Osprey

[Joseph Przybyla]

I captured this image yesterday at Circle B Bar Reserve in Polk County, Florida. I had captured a couple hundred images of the bird eating a fish, then waited for the bird to take flight. Comments and critique welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for viewing.

Nikon D500
Nikon 80-400mm F/4.5-5.6 VRII AF-S ED shot at 400mm
1/1600 F/5.6 Matrix Metering EV +2 ISO 1800, camera supported by a monopod
Post processed in Lightroom Classic CC and Photoshop CC 2018
Cropped for composition and presentation

[gail bisson]

Hi Joe,
As you probably know by now I am not a lover of high key images!:e3
I find the branch behind the osprey very intrusive. I would clone the whole thing out (including that bit of moss on RHS).
It looks like you had to lift the shadows under the wings as they appear quite noisy.
I do like the sharpness of the osprey and the incoming flight position but overall this one doesn't "float my boat"!
Gail

[Bob Smith]

A great head-on , down the barrel look Joe, but I agree with Gail that the branch is a problem, not so much by it's presence as by the way it lines up with the left wing.

[Alex Becker]

I generally like high key images a lot, especially when theres a small splash of color as there is here with the yellow eyes. I like the wing pose and clear look at the talons. The fanned tail is nice too. I also think the branch is a problem given how it cuts past the bird, although I do think if you have a similar frame from the burst with the branch not blocking the bird it could add interest. TFS

[John Mack]

Nice pose agree about the branch.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Thanks everyone for viewing, commenting and suggesting improvements. Here is an edit and repost without the tree limb. Also noise reduction on the under wings.

[Alex Becker]

Hi Joseph, the RP is an improvement to me and a very nice frame. Those eyes really pop against the BG. Well done and TFS