High up

[wendell westfall]

D70s 70-200VR+2X@400 1/400 f5.6 ISO500 +1EV Handheld

This was taken a month ago and is my second osprey -- both taken with the sun shining toward me and both with the bird high above me. So, I knew I had little chance for a "close to perfect" picture . . . but I've tried. It is cropped 50% . . . and other PP was done in PS Elements, however I've lost the record of what I did. Looking at other exposures I took at the time, I know I've improved the image a lot (but not enough). What more can I do to improve? . . . if anything . . .

Wendell

[Gus Cobos]

Hi Wendell,
You did well considering the harsh angled light. I would crop a little from the right side of the frame to off set your bird more, tone down the harsh whites, adjust your mid-tones and increase the saturation and contrast slightly...might want to selective sharpen the eye a little more...your head angle is a tad off, needing some CCW rotation, and the capture angle a little steep...keep them coming Sir. :):cool:

[Anita Rakestraw]

It looks pretty sharp, Wendell, esp. for the big crop. I'm on my laptop so not sure, but looks like the whites on the right side of the bird are blown. On the left side I see sharpening halos. The light angle and the high up perch were the worst problems here, but given what you had to work with, not bad! I have similar problems trying to get hawk images here; hawks abound but are never in the right place when I'm out....sigh....Keep trying!!

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Wendell

Tried playing with the image but its tough !! The sun angle got you here, difficult to have that much light on one side then the other in shadow !! If possible would walk to the right for a better angle then wait for the bird to turn its head !!!

Normally if you don't have many of the species fire one for record then move into your best shooting position !! Exposure wise for this situation you need to guard against blowing many of the whites, a little you can fix during the conversion and even clone some texture in the area ! These birds are exciting !!!

[wendell westfall]

Gus, Anita and Alfred:

Thanks so much for your assessments! They are very helpful for me. I will try them out. Unfortunately, I was in a position that could not have been altered, could not have been improved (for sun angle or for distance). And though I was able to take lots of images of the osprey that day, this was my best. I think I need to go back and hope for another sighting.

[Lance Peters]

Hi Wendell - techs covered above - looking forward to seeing your return shots :)

[Oscar Zangroniz]

Great image and a difficult angle.