Osprey.

[Karl Egressy]

Osprey fishing.
This is a composite image, the background being a separate file.
I hope it is OK with you.
Thanks for looking.

Canon 1D Mark IV
Canon 500 f4.0 L IS II.
ISO 800
f4.5
1/2000 s
HH.

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

Beautiful bird, clear detail and interesting POV Karl! Not sure why you had to change the BG but this works for me!

[Bill Dix]

Terrific dorsal view with great light and wonderful feather detail. I wouldn't have known about the background, except that it seems more fitting for a Harrier. I might have expected something watery blue. The bg seems to have just a hint of posterization, which is a problem I have from time to time.

[gail bisson]

Great dorsal view but I knew right away when I viewed it that it was a composite even before reading your comments.
The osprey looks great though.
I can tell because of "the cut-out look" and perfect edges. The way around it is to "feather" your selection by 3 pixels or so when pasting it onto the composite BG.
Go to selection- then modify then feather.
Gail

[Karl Egressy]

Great dorsal view but I knew right away when I viewed it that it was a composite even before reading your comments.
The osprey looks great though.
I can tell because of "the cut-out look" and perfect edges. The way around it is to "feather" your selection by 3 pixels or so when pasting it onto the composite BG.
Go to selection- then modify then feather.
Gail

Thanks Gail.
I'll try it next time.

[Karl Egressy]

I felt I should post the image as it was taken.
Just had some fun with the background.
Which one do you like if any.
Thanks.

[Bill Dix]

Not everyone likes high-key images, but I do, so this looks pretty cool to me. I'd just add a 1px border around it.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Nice dorsal view Karl.
I prefer the original sky (unaltered)

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

I prefer the original image too. No need to change anything like a BG IMHO.

Nicely done Karl (the original shot).
TFS

[Grace Scalzo]

I much prefer the original. Super diving pose with a great look at the top side.

[Eric Dienesch]

I much prefer the original. Super diving pose with a great look at the top side.

For me the same...
i really hope to get these beautiful birds next february on my trip to florida :)

[William Dickson]

Original for me Karl. Fab look at the topside of the bird. Nice detail.

Will

[Satish Ranadive]

Excellent flight shot. Beautiful colours, great topside view with nice details. I like the both posts.

Regards,
Satish.

[Randy Stout]

Karl:

I vote for the original sky as well. Great dorsal view.

I have seen thousands of osprey, and this one seems unusually brow, vs the gray,brown I normally see. There certainly can be regional variations, but if you bumped up the saturation, I think it went too far.

Cheers

Randy