Juvenile osprey first solo!

[Diane Miller]

At least I'm pretty sure this was his first attempt. It lasted about 30 seconds. It was a couple of days ago and he (she?) had only been standing up in the nest for a few days. A few hours before this there were some tentative wing exercises, but no evidence of any kind of coordination. I'd love to know if he was delighted or frightened -- he settled back into the nest (invisible in there as it's on a tall utility pole) for a long nap. Then a couple of hours later a little more uncoordinated flapping. Yesterday I saw no attempts at exercising.

Today a sibling was also standing near the edge of the nest, but no flapping while I was there. Light was not good this morning, but looks like it's improving this afternoon so I'm heading back out now. (I have my husband trained to drink beer until I get back to make dinner.)

Canon 7D2, 10-400 II at 400, f/6.3, ISO 800, 1/3200 sec. Very small adjustments in LR and into PS for crop and level -- this is the full frame height after a minor level. Cleaned some whitewash off the end of the beam and some very minor dodging and burning.

[Randy Stout]

Diane:

Always fun to see them fledge. You can sure tell this is a youngster, the torso is so slim compared to the adults. Certainly nothing insubstantial about those talons though!

Fairly soft light has given nice detail with soft shadows. Comp works for me.

Hope to see some more from your adventure this afternoon. Hope the beer doesn't run out.

Cheers

Randy

[Don Lacy]

Since when do you have to train a man to drink beer Lovely detail and exposure and he/she has those juvi eyes.

[Robert Kimbrell]

I nice moment captured, What a thrill to see this. Love the look and the outstretched talons.

[Warren Spreng]

Terrific Diane! Those talons are amazing!

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Gorgeous pose and details. I like the exposure and sharpness and the high-key look.

[Jonathan Ashton]

That's a gem of a shot Diane wonderful details and exposure.

[Mike Poole]

Lovely timing Diane, the outstretched talons look fantastic. Great details throughout, excellent work

Mike

[Diane Miller]

Thanks everyone!

Don, I misspoke about the beer. I've trained him to wait for dinner. He figured out the part about the beer all by himself....

[adrian dancy]

I'd be privileged to see a juvenile finding its wings for the first time. You have made a nice image here.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Diane, love how the colours of the Osprey pop against your high key BG. Super pose showing the full extension of the near wing, together with those sharp talons.

[David Salem]

Nice looking hovering pose of this first time flyer. The details look great and I like the overall exposure but I think a little black will help this like it helped Mikes image. I know you clone so I might consider cloning the 4x4 post out of the nest. Well done Diane

[Diane Miller]

David, thanks - good recommendations. A worked-up file always looks so much better than the flat raw sitting next to it in the filmstrip that I rarely go far enough with it, but posting here, in comparison with other images, gives a good perspective. I'd been thinking about tweaking further and also had a crack at the nest -- the bolt was bothering me more than the beam. Both removed here. I didn't think the beam looked easy but an irregular-shaped brush did it nicely.

[David Salem]

Mucho Better!! Nice RP