Osprey With Nesting Material

[Joseph Przybyla]

I captured this image along the western shore of Lake Parker in Lakeland, Florida. Comments and critique welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for viewing.

Nikon D500
Nikon 500mm PF, Handheld
1/2000 F/5.6 Matrix Metering EV +1 ISO 400 Auto 1 WB, image captured at 500mm (750mm 35mm Equivalent)
Cropped a little for composition and presentation

[Brian Sump]

Joe, nice light and vantage point but unfortunately for me the head is oof :-/

[Joseph Przybyla]

Joe, nice light and vantage point but unfortunately for me the head is oof :-/

Hey Brian, thank you for viewing and commenting. Sometime eighty year old eyes miss some things. Here is a edit and repost I think is better, if not please tell me.

[Brian Sump]

Hey Brian, thank you for viewing and commenting. Sometime eighty year old eyes miss some things. Here is a edit and repost I think is better, if not please tell me.

Joe definitely better! You might also want to clean up the mask in the weeds too as there is some lighter bleed coming through.

FWIW, I had no idea you were of such an age. You are a very good photographer, regardless of age IMO!

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Joe, the RP is better, but I still feel the raw isn't quite pin sharp.

I like the angle and open beak and the trailing vegetation is a change from fish. Not sure of the time of day, but just taking a quick sample from the two spots on the LH wing, I get a change in the overall appearance, not sure if its better, but I quite like the bit of colour in the sky. The side body & leg joint look a bit warm. Upping the greens in the vegetation I think also helps, but just my thoughts.

TFS
Steve

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Joe ... very nice flight shot with the bird in business , which is big plus for me .
My initial thought it was missing sharpness in your OP , your RP does look sharper .... but think as Steve , the image is not 100 % sharp in capture .
From the color point of view ... the image does look flat with a cast . Might go Steve's route to have better overall separation
Well LR has not the best masking tool .... referring to Brian .... in which I do agree .

TFS Andreas

[Joseph Przybyla]

Thanks everyone for viewing and commenting, much appreciated. I struggled to post-process this image. I agree that the image was not pin sharp. I think the autofocus mode (Group) grabbed the closest wing and the depth of field was not enough for the head to be sharp. Also it was getting quite dark, overcast without much contrast, not the best conditions to lock on to a bird flying. I think Steve's edit and repost looks much better but the sky was the color in my original post and edit, less blue. Probably why I struggled with the post-processing trying to keep the image near what the conditions were that evening. I also think that in the low light and the bird getting closer and closer the camera struggled to keep up focusing. The side of the body and the leg joint that Steve mentioned in his comments were hot but not clipped. I tried burning those areas, and lowering the highlights to blend with the exposure of the other whites. Anyways, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, if all was perfect it would be boring. Thanks again everyone...

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Joe looking at your shooting techs ... I am wondering why you say it was shot in low light ???

[Joseph Przybyla]

Hi Joe looking at your shooting techs ... I am wondering why you say it was shot in low light ???

Hi Andreas, looking at the shooting techs I agree with you, not low light. I guess I thought that because as I remember the evening it was not the bright light I am used to here in Florida. Thanks for coming back...