Theme: The Osprey that Never Moves...

Hi all. Long time lurker, first time poster. I figured I'd add a photo to May's theme of portraits. I called this the "Osprey that doesn't move" because every time I drove over the Ft. Desoto bridge it was sitting on the rail just waiting for me to take its photo. But I guess it moved, as I haven't seen it there in a number of trips. You can even see the reflection of my Jeep in the eye :-)
Handheld Sony a7r iv | 200-600mm @600mm | f/6.3 | 1/2000th | ISO 100
Very minor editing in Lightroom and very little sharpening since the Osprey was only 10 feet away and filled the frame of the a7r4.

Attachment 190982

Matt:

Congrats on your first post.

Great detail on the face, and iris. I would not want to be on the receiving end of that bill.

The whites on the crown are a bit hot for my taste.

A little more DOF would have been nice. The large area of OOF feathers on the body is a bit distracting, esp. because of its brightness. If time allowed, I would have tried a few shots with smaller f/stop, just to claw back a bit more DOF. Maybe a 1/4
inch or so!

Look forward to more.

Cheers

Randy

Hi Matt, welcome to BRN. Nice first image. I agree with Randy's comment regarding the whites on the crown, with careful post processing there might be more detail in those feathers. Nice portrait, thank you for sharing.

Welcome to BPN Matt!
A solid first post.
Nice and sharp where it counts. The bill looks great- so clean for an osprey!
The light was a bit harsh and that has created some shadowing on the neck and left shoulder.
I would crop this to a 2 x 3 and get rid of the out of focus lower part of the bird and add a bit more canvas up top if you have it.
You had lots of ISO to play with so bumping up to F9 would have "tightened" the image up even more (especially since you were so close).
I see some cloning artifact or masking artifact on the osprey's left shoulder . Easy fix.
I agree with previous comments on the blown out whites.
Look forward to more,
Gail

Welcome, glad to see you entered the theme. A nice portrait of this osprey. Razor sharp. I don't mind the framing as is. The feathers on the back make a very nice pattern. Most people on here will not like the light here. I don't mind it. It does give some depth and demension. Hope to see some more.

Are you the same Matt Kloskowski that use to be on the grid with Scott Kelby?

Thanks for the feedback everyone.
@John Mack - Yes, this is the same Matt :-)

Hi Matt, Welcome. We hope you stick around. Lots of good comments and suggestions above. I will add that the problem began with where you chose to stand ... In general,, and especially in harsh sunlight, you will want to try to point your shadow at the bird with the sun coming over the top of your head (if possible). By shooting off sun angle the bird's neck and the front of its face are in shadow while its crown is in the bight sun .... That is a lose/lose situation. In addition, you were at ISO 100 at 1/2000 sec at f/6.3. You could have easily gone to 1/1000 sec. at ISO 400 an worked at f/18 (if my math is correct). I am not aware of any reason to work at ISO 100. f/18 would have given you a ton more depth-of-field than f/6.3.

Check out my big SONY e-Guide here.

with love, artie