Olympic lingo.
Not the photo, to the mother Osprey on another fine season of raising chicks.
Shown here on an adjacent piling, a break from the nest.
She was there with the chicks 24/7, always concerned, alert, squawking at people, other
birds in the area, etc. The dad would fly in with a fish occasionally, but that was it. She
did all the heavy lifting. She was the guard, the occasional fish provider and the nurturer
for a couple of months.
The life of a mother raptor is a big long hard job!
1/2000, f7.1, 600mm (300 w/ 2x), ISO 1600, HH, D800
Oooh Dan,
I love this shot.
I am a big fan of the pilings she is perched on as they are so nicely weathered and overgrown with moss.
Love the BG and the pose.
The soft diffuse light is beautiful.IQ is excellent.
You get a 10 from this judge!!
Gail
Great pose, sharp with good detail. In many of your Osprey shots the white on the head is blown. With proper exposure technique it doesn't have to be that way.
Nice osprey. And we do have nice pilings here but most, like this one, look like they will not last much longer. Background is beautiful and great angle on this bird. I believe I photographed my last osprey of the year on Saturday (sad for me) but maybe the mom will have a rest now if dad teaches them to hunt.
Dan, you scored a ten on this one. Your choice of f7.1 got the entire subject in focus. The whites are nicely under control and the feather detail is superb.
Beautiful shot. Great Wing position, HA , and IQ . Nice perch & BG. Very soft light makes this really good. Not much not to like. I think its exposed well, Maybe dodge her bald spot. Great job. One of your best shots of the series.
Super pose and plumage detail. Love the BG and the yellowish lichen on the perch even echoes the yellow eye! Blown white on the head may be recoverable in the RAW file - could also be an issue with converting to sRGB for web if you process in a larger colour space.
Thanks for the comments, I knew the top of the head was blown, I don't get many right!
I try to get them against the hill or foliage BG which is dark, I do shoot what I think is underexposed a bit, but still don't get all the whites correct.
That top of the head is tough for me, it is such a tiny patch in a fairly dark BG and much whiter than the rest of the underfeathers.
Ofer, I am working on proper technique, still trying.
I don't really try to rescue the whites, they just come out gray, so I live with the best I get, I discard many.