Unfortunately the day was totally overcast...not ideal conditions to photograph Ospreys. They require bright sunlight to really show off their beautiful underwing detail. Therefore, I was not really happy with most of the pictures...but being on a boat at Blue Cypress Lake where there are hundreds of Ospreys nesting in the Cypress Trees in the water...and so many flying overhead, it made for a great opportunity to experiment with my settings. I am definitely going back when the weather is better...an amazing experience to see so many Ospreys in one place. Because I was not satisfied with my manual settings, this was taken in Aperture Priority....hoping that one of you will make some processing corrections and explain how you do it. Thanks
Nikon D300 300/2.8 VR lense ISO 400 f/2.8 @ 1/1600 Aperture Priority, Hand Held from Boat
might help if you post the original straight out of the camera to point you in the right direction, ken. as is, the greens look super saturated and there seems to be a blue? color cast. that's all i'm gonna say til i see the original.
ken, the color in the original is perfect!!! i might have tried multiplying the whites on it's head and a round of sharpening for the bird and calling it a day!! maybe a slight contrast boost. btw, the overcast skies did not hurt you here. probably helped!!!
Hi Ken - are you crazy :) :) - I LOVE overcast weather - I live for it!!!!
Allows me to shoot all day - especially with white birds.
The original needs very little done to it - as is often the case we have a tendency to overwork our images -- some selective sharpening to the bird and some white recovery via a linear burn layer to the area's that are over on the top of the head and wing tips and your good.
keep in mind a good image straight out of the camera is going to require very little work (Gotta love them).
For me - usually sharpen, crop, levels if necessary - thats it - couple of minutes at most.
Hi Ken, Agree that the lighting didn't hurt the image. Nice wing position but the image is a bit soft. I prefer the green backround color in the original. I might tone down some of the trees behind the bird....
Thanks guys...I am trying to figure out a proper work flow with CS4...Lance, I am still having trouble with the sizing for posting....I enter 800 for the long side and sometimes the KBs are under 100 and sometimes over 200..and won't fit for the BPN post...and then the quality of the pic selector...very good, very high, max etc..definitely affects it...think I am overloading from reading and trying too much...:(
Hi Ken You need to use save for web to specify the kb !!
Next time you go over the lake ... pray for the same conditions, if you have bright sunshine the whites will be blown and won't have a keeper !!! Overcast is best !!!
Would like an in between with the re post, its a bit flat !!! Can add black in selective color and will improve. Btw when lining up the nest you should look at bg, the sticks on the back compete with the image and a few feet left would have given a clean bg !!! ...... btw don't be shy and leave comment on others, best way to learn !!!
Female Osprey on Nest
