Osprey in flight

[David N Smith]

Osprey in flight taken at The Celery Fields in Sarasota, Fl.

Canon 6D MkII, Tamron 150-600 G2 @ 500mm, f6.3, 1/800 sec, ISO 400, HH, fairly large crop.

[Paul Burdett]

Hi David. I have only recently joined this forum, but have been impressed with the photos I've seen so far. I think that this is an excellent Osprey in flight shot, although to me it looks a little over sharpened and somewhat noisy? I live approx 20mins away from "Osprey House Environmental centre" in Brisbane, so I often go there to photograph Ospreys and other shore and raptors.

[annmpacheco]

Hi David,
Lovely pose for this osprey but I find the image noisy, perhaps a big crop? Also, the whites on the top of the head lack any detail and may be blown which can be easy to do with the sun angle here... Another suggestion is to clean up the eye, and lastly I would suggest a smaller signature so it doesn't distract from your subject. Did you take this recently at the Celery Fields? If so , what else is around, a favorite place for many for sure! TFS

[David N Smith]

This was taken 1-30-2018. Also got American Bittern, Least Bittern, and Purple Gallinule.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

I think the large crop is why there is so much noise in the frame. Unfortunately, excessive cropping does not usually give us very good files to process.

You should be able to get very good files with that lens BTW, though not sure if the 6D is a camera I'd pick for bird/action photography.
My friend uses that lens at times and takes some awesome Peregrine Falcon photos locally.

Don't be afraid to up the ISO to get more shutter speed, with flying birds you need as fast a SS as possible, mostly. Push the ISO, push your histogram to the right as far as you can with no blinkies (some small areas are OK).

I like the concentration in the bird as if it were seeing something it was about to take from the water.

Keep it up and I am hoping to see more from you! :)

[David N Smith]

Thanks for the replies. It appears I need to work on my PP.
What I like about this forum is the honest opinions people give in the critiques.

[gail bisson]

Hi David,
I have to agree with all of the above.
It looks like the sun was high in the sky so the whites on the neck got blown out and when you lifted the shadows on the underwing you introduced noise.
Us bird photographers have to get up early to take advantage of that beautiful low in the sky sunlight. I try to be at my location of choice 5 minutes before the sun rises then pack it up around 9:30AM (in Florida) and go back out for the last 2 1/2 hours before sunset. It means lots of late/missed suppers though!!
You do have a great wing position here with a nice head view and the image conveys what ospreys do- search the water for food,
Gail

[Jonathan Ashton]

David I think you have a good shot there but I think the big image is too big and the crop is a little large also. I very strongly suspect this would look great as a 1200px image, it would certainly look more detailed and the noise would be less apparent. The larger posting size will emphasise any flaws in images.