Landing Juvenile Osprey from Blue Cypress Lake

[arash_hazeghi]

I was shooting Ospereys with Al, Fabs and Axel, this photo was made from Al's boat, the low nests provide a unique opportunity for getting landing and flight shots.


http://www.stanford.edu/%7Eahazeghi/Photos/birds/juvi%20landing%20low.jpg

5D MKII + 500 f/4 f/5.6 1/2600sec ISO 400, hand hold from boat

Special thanks and credit to Al and Fabs for taking me to this amazing location, a must visit for osperey lovers!!!

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Looks great Arash, perfect timing mate. :) TFS.

[Arthur Morris]

Sweet. EXP is perfect. Adequate d-o-f and two birds on nearly the same plane. I like the implied hippety-hop landing pose.

If it fits with your personal ethics you can use Protect and Defend (with Refine Edge) along with a 60% Clone Stamp Tool to eliminate the light tree trunks in the BKGR. Here is a similar image. I will post the original in the frame below. (I am debating about doing the same thing with the big dark area....)

In situations like these you are at the mercy of the breezes and the drift of the boat as far as BKGRs are concerned....

[Arthur Morris]

Here is the original. All of the techniques that I use in these situations are described in Digital Basics :)

[Arthur Morris]

ps: I like your image much better with the sweeter light and the great pose.

[Harshad Barve]

excellent image and timing Arashbhai
TFS

[Colin Knight]

Well done! Both birds are sharp and the action was nicely captured. TFS!

[Morkel Erasmus]

lovely double and so sharp Arash...I would be interested in how you find the AF of the 5Dmk2 with avian shooting as I see you use it a lot and many of my friends in SA have complained about how it's not a wildlife/avian camera with its slow AF?

[Troy Lim]

Yeah, so sharp, and the landing pose is great, showing both talons nicely.
TFS.

[Nick Palmieri]

Very nice exposure and capture! Removing the bright areas in the BG would improve this but IMO it works very well as presented. TFS.

[denise ippolito]

Arash, Nice avatar! Beautiful shot of the two w/good sharp details. Love the incoming pose w/ raised foot.

[Dumay de Boulle]

Great double, good light and great exposure. IQ is great

[Alfred Forns]

Sure was fun Arash and will do it again next year !!! ... great for Joe to let us use his boat :)

Like how you included the second bird, interaction makes the difference so its not another Osprey image !! Sweet !!!

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Arash, superb shot all around. Both birds parallel to the sensor...wing position, crop....excellent stuff. Thx for sharing.

[Stu Bowie]

Arash, perfect timing, and I really like the light, detail and colours. That BG is a killer.

[Conrad Tan]

Terrific shot Arash! Wow! Hey man when will I see you out in Palo Alto again? PM me your contact info bud!

[arash_hazeghi]

Here is the original. All of the techniques that I use in these situations are described in Digital Basics :)


Thanks Artie,
I was debating whether I should let the trunks go, here is one version without the trunks :D light and angle are courtesy of Al's expert driving and careful positioning! we were lucky it was calm at the beginning, got windy around 10:30AM.

Hope to see you again soon

Arash

http://www.stanford.edu/%7Eahazeghi/Photos/birds/juvi%20landing%20low%202.jpg

[arash_hazeghi]

Terrific shot Arash! Wow! Hey man when will I see you out in Palo Alto again? PM me your contact info bud!


Thanks Conrad, will let you know next time I am going shooting.

[arash_hazeghi]

lovely double and so sharp Arash...I would be interested in how you find the AF of the 5Dmk2 with avian shooting as I see you use it a lot and many of my friends in SA have complained about how it's not a wildlife/avian camera with its slow AF?


Thanks Morkel, 5DMKII AF and IQ is great for flight shots much better than XXD and 7D IMO, Fabs and I were using it all the time. If they have trouble making good images most likely the shortcoming is their technique.

Best

[arash_hazeghi]

And thanks everybody for nice comments!

[Myer Bornstein]

Love the repost Great photo

[Krijn Trimbos]

Arash the repost rocks! Lovely landing pose, good colours and excellent HT(s). Very well done