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Thread: Inspired by Dan

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    Default Inspired by Dan

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    Dan Kearl inspired me to go out and try for Osprey with his many flying bird shots. This is a female, dad had just dropped off a fish for her and the two kids (I missed that shot). She then took the fish for a fly about and then came back to the nest. The fish still has a head and I'm not sure why dad did not eat it before dropping it off, maybe he does not like catfish.

    The light is a little more harsh than I would like and I would like to lessen the shadow but do not know how to do that - any suggestions appreciated.

    I did desaturate and lighten the background a little and cropped about 30%.

    Nikon D3S, 500mm plus 1.4 converter for 700mm
    ISO 800, f8, 1/800 sec
    Manual Exposure

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Laurie - very well done on your first attempt for osprey in flight. The fish really adds to it. You can try selective dodging of the shadows or a levels adjustment moving the midtone slider to the left on a layer mask. I'm sure others can give better suggestions.

    TFS,
    Rachel

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    Nice flight shot, Laurie.
    It would be nice to have more OOF background.

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    BPN Member dankearl's Avatar
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    Nice, Laurie, is this at Sauvie?
    Bird is nice and sharp at 1/800.
    Interesting that the head was still on, I have hardly ever seen a head after about 30 seconds after capture.
    Dan Kearl

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    Forum Participant christopher galeski's Avatar
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    nice capture Laurie,good detail,like the head still on the fish.thanks.

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    Lifetime Member Doug Brown's Avatar
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    Hi Laurie. Nice action and good eye contact. I find that when photographing Osprey, it's time to pack up the gear when the light gets the least bit strong. The shadows are impossible to fix. A wings-up frame may help the situation though. I probably would have shot f/5.6 or f/6.3 to soften up the BG a little. I'm not sure about desaturating the BG; it doesn't look quite right to me.
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    Lifetime Member gail bisson's Avatar
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    Hi Laurie,
    Lovely shot and very unusual to still see the head on the fish.
    I would try dodging the shadow area at ~ 18% strength.
    I would also do a gaussian blur on the BG at 2 pixels or so and that way you wouldn't have to desaturate the Bg so much.
    Good placement of the bird in the frame.
    Gail

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    Dan, - yes Sauvie's Island near Howell Park.

    Doug - agree we should have left but the guy 10' on my left got this one just right. I have better photos of her but the angle on the fish is not as good. They fly so seldom!

    Gail and Karl - I will give it another try, thanks for the suggestions.

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