First Osprey Of 2013

Nikon D300s & Sigma 150-500m
1/800, f/11, ISO 250 @ 500mm
Taken from a boat on the St. Lawrence River. A beautiful morning and the river was like glass.
HandHeld, Cropped and Sharpened.

Jeff its a great capture, would be interested in what others think of the composure, for me the bird looks stalled in the air though you can see its landing on the nest, as I say look forward to others comments on this one

Nice landing pose, good IQ and nice composition, Jeff..

Sweet pose and comp.

Jeff,

I think this looks great. The composition works well for me. The crop is just right and I don't see a need for any further crop. The nest is crucial to the shot, IMO, and I don't see the bird as being stagnant at all. In fact, I find this a very dynamic image. Just my opinion though:)

Miguel

Congrats for finding the nest. The composition isn't quite working for me in that the bird is quite small in the frame and relative to the nest. Good capture though.

i like the idea here, the bird pose is nice i may have preferred a fuller nest

Thanks All. We located 10 nests this day and can't wait for the little ones to start flying with Mom & Dad. I will post the next photo when I can Monday. The osprey is about to touch down in the next photo with a full view of the nest. Thanks agin for the comments.

I love the extended wings and the amount of nest showing is fine by me. It's just that there is so much space between the subject and the nest - that's what makes the comp so-so for some. Here's a repost where I reduced that space by cloning the nest closer, recropping, and adding another round of sharpening to the sticks to make the sharpness match that of the subject. Oh, and I wish the head angle would have been better. Looks like a great spot with lots of opportunities, looking forward to more!

Thanks Daniel. It makes sense to remove the empty space.

Very nice coming in pose, with good details and exposure. I like Daniel's revision of space even better between the osprey and it's nest. Well done, Jeff.