Osprey

[Tony Whitehead]

Had a great, if too brief, trip to Australia. Definite must do destination for any keen birder. Found 2 breeding pairs of Osprey which were relatively well located for photography. This was on a grey day - huge diffused light source but relatively low light levels - grey sky merged with sea so went for a high key look which is not everyone's cup of tea but I like. I have a whole sequence of this action from dive to capture and repeated attempts to take off - bird finally had to abandon the fish just after this image. Would have preferred some eye contact from the fish:)
Nikon D700
Nikon 500VR+1.4x
ISO 1600 1/2500 f5.6 - matrix +1.33

[Pieter de Waal]

Hi Tony,

I like the feel of this, great use of conditions which suit the high key style. Action well captured, excellent wing position with both wings well defined and exposed. Great eye contact and the turbulence in the water just rounding it off. A winner for me.

Was this from a hide or a boat ?

[Tony Whitehead]

Was this from a hide or a boat ?

Thanks for the comments, Pieter. No hide or boat - just from the shore - the birds were fortunately hunting the shallows fairly close in. They were interesting to watch - initially they would head out to trailer boats that were fishing in the hope of catching undersized fish returned by the fishermen. The fishing obviously wasn't good as they soon abandoned this to hunt the shallows.

[subramanya_ck]

Love the image. Great use of overcast conditions. All white have intensified the drama of the scene.

[Harshad Barve]

Great example of excellent high key effect image
TFS

[Lorant Voros]

Might not be everyone's cup af tea, but I love this high key effect. Agree it would have been better to have some eye contact from the fish, but it is still pretty nice. This bird is pretty drenched....by rain or miltiple dives for the fish?
Well done.

[Art Kornienko]

Nice high key work Tony, love the action, great timing.

[Michael Hogan]

Tony, Nice shot. I suppose, as you said, HA could have been better. Not sure if this is the place or if has been explained elsewhere but how do you achieve the high key effect - is it done when you shoot or in PS later. I like the effect and would like to try some here as dull days with diffuse are rather the norm here.

Thanks

Michael

[Mike Landwehr]

Spectacular, Tony! I love the high-key lighting, the wing position, the soft light on the tail and some of the trailing edges of the feathers, the open beak. A very dramatic shot!

[Karen Summers]

A great action shot and great exposure I don t normally see images of these birds with that sort of BG but it does work ok and i like it

[stuart wanuck]

great high key capture!

[Stu Bowie]

Hey Tony, very well timed, and a good wing posture from the Osprey. Good job with the high ISO and exposure, and just love how the sea blends into the sky. I also like the hint of the ripples in the FG too. Have you printed it yet ? ;) Glad you had a great time in Oz. Cheers.

[Gerrie van Vuuren]

Works for me. Like the timing & pose. Well done Tony!

[Tony Whitehead]

Thanks for looking and all the comments, everyone. Not printed yet, Stu.

Not sure if this is the place or if has been explained elsewhere but how do you achieve the high key effect - is it done when you shoot or in PS later. I like the effect and would like to try some here as dull days with diffuse are rather the norm here.

Thanks

Michael

Michael, for high key you need a bright BG like bright grey sky/water as here and then make sure you expose to have that right up against the right of the histogram. If you have the blinkies turned on the whole image apart from the main subject will flash in the preview. This was exposed at matrix +1.3. I would have preferred +1.7 but the head of the Osprey is bright and blows easily. In post you can then push the surrounds to white with a levels adjustment layer and mask it from the bird. Hope that helps.

[Martin Wallis]

I really like the high key effect of this image. Works well.

[Ulli Hoeger]

Great capture of the bird, but the lighting makes it one of a kind. Excellent!