Osprey Catch of the Day

[Melissa Groo]

Canon 7D
500mm f/4 + 1.4x
Handheld

1/800 sec
f/6.3
ISO 400

Took this a few weeks ago here at a local lake in central NY. I was handholding while standing and starting to get a bit shaky, so it's not as sharp as I would like. My shutter speed could definitely have been better too, I should have upped the ISO, but the bird took me unawares and I was trying to act fast. The light was not coming from an ideal angle (behind and above) but I like the way that it caught the osprey's eye. I also liked the colors in the background and the trail of drops.
This was cropped about 40-50% I think. I would like a bit more room in front but didn't crop at all there, and would need to add canvas.
Ran NR a couple times on background. Smart sharpened. A little recovery on the whites. Would very much welcome other ideas on how to improve.
Thanks so much for looking and for any comments.

[Gary Esman]

Hi Melissa, Nice action you caught here. Nice background and nice light. It appears the focus point in on the fish, therefore making the osprey out of focus and a little blurred. Easy to do when rushed. Hand holding the equipment you are using is not an easy task. IMO I would crop from the left a little. Looking forward to more.

Gary.

[Dave Leroy]

Nice shot Melissa. Sometimes things happen when you are not quite ready. Darn.

Bird is a bit too centered for me and I would crop to move a bit more into top left, just a touch.

From my limited experience, all things like exposure and focus being on, the thing about bif's is shutter speed. The higher the better. As you mentioned a higher ISO of 800 and ss of 1/1600 I think would have made a big difference.

I like the idea of f/6.3 with the tc on. Even that little bit seems to make sharper photos than f/5.6.

Dave

[Melissa Groo]

Thanks so much for your comments, Gary and Dave. Here is a repost putting the osprey in the upper left.
Hope you like it better. And yes, shutter speed, shutter speed, shutter speed, for BIF. Learning all the time here..

[Gary Esman]

Hi Melissa, like the crop a lot better. When you sharpen, how do yo do it?

Gary.

[gail bisson]

Hi Melissa,
Repost is much better. The comp is much stronger. Unfortunately, this is one of those shots that one can't bring oneself to delete because it was a superb moment but.... In this case the but is the SS that was just too slow.:w3I love the water droplets and the light is great as is the BG.
I didn't realize there are ospreys in the big city!
Gail

[arash_hazeghi]

nice catch and a great BG, the ospreys looks a bit soft and lacking in detail. Wings full up or full down would be ideal. well done!

[Chad Caswell]

Hi Melissa, Wow that looks like a small mouth bass :eek::cheers: Congrats on your and the osprey's captures. :5 I like the re-post and love the bkg behind the osprey...I hear ya about timing.. these guys come out of no where and leave you very little time to get the tech's right.

Nice image.

Chad

[Melissa Groo]

Gary: I use smart sharpen with amount about 78 and radius 0.5, please let me know if you have a better suggestion. Gail: I actually live in Ithaca, ny, not the big city (though I grew up there!). About 4 hours away and in quite a rural setting. And yes, couldn't bear to throw this away despite the Shutter speed shortcoming! Thanks all for your comments.

[Melissa Groo]

Yes Chad, very good, a small-mouth bass indeed! Thanks for looking.

[Stu Bowie]

Melissa, the placement of the osprey in the repost does work better. The droplets coming off the fish add interest, and the BG is sweet with all the different colours. I have to agree that a sharper ss would have improved this, but hey, thats why we are here. Practise and learn.:w3

[Dumay de Boulle]

Comp in the repost is much better. Great BG and catch. I also think a faster SS would have helped. But still a nice image!

[Mitch Carucci]

I like this photo. Lighting is great, and the background really sets off the main subject. (love the water drops) We always want sharper images, but you might not have gotten this image if you were tied to a tripod. As to the sharpness... it is not possible to see enough detail online. Is it standard softness, or motion blur? If motion blur, look into "Focus Magic". It can correct for modest motion blur (not bad for standard sharpening also).

[Melissa Groo]

Thanks for the comments, Stuart, Dumay and Mitch. Mitch, I think it was just a standard softness issue, but I am glad to know about this Focus Magic and will look into it.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Melissa, the comp. in repost is better. BG is really really nice in this shot. And it is not an easy one for AF of Canon prosumer body. Good angle on the bird and nice catch.

[Satish Ranadive]

Marvelous image. Beautiful background and water droplets enhancing the beauty of of image.