Canon 7D 1/1250, 5.6, ISO 200
lens 100-400mm 400mm
Image was taken in October. I have cropped about 50% to focus on bird rather than sky/tree. I have LR and PS5 but a newbie! Thanks for any comments. Merry Christmas!
Hi Ann, lovely looking Osprey, and I like the eye contact. Comp wise, the Osprey is too central. Most times we try and get the subject along a thirds line if possible. Hope you dont mind, I have re-comped how I would have maybe tackled this. I also lightened the Osprey slightly with the shadow highlights tool, and ran another touch of sharpening on him. To round off, I darkened the BG a tad. Others may see this differently.:)
that is a beautiful osprey Ann, the detail you got on the feathers is wonderful and beautiful eyes. I agree with Stuart that if you play with cropping in closer, the photo will be more about the bird ---
Thanks Stu, I like your repost and will give a try at what you did here. Would lightening the bird's right eye area be beneficial as it is shadowed? Do I use the same shadow highlights tool? Is it acceptable to crop and therefore enlarge when posting? So many birds on these forums "almost" fit the page!
Hi Ann, in a perfect world, one must try and get as close to the subject as possible, so when you do crop, you dont lose any IQ. Subjects far away and then cropped do not look great. You should be able to crop a fair bit with your 7D, but it also depends on your shooting conditions. Good light, and your lens should pull it off. As always, over time, you will know what is going to work or not. Even if I have a good subject, and its too far, I just leave it.
With regards to lightening the eye, either shadow highlights tool, or just using the dodge tool selectively. Cheers.
Stuart gave an excellent critique. I like his choice of crop (might clean up that one half in / half out branch at the bottom of the frame). I think you could also go with a tighter horizontal crop if you're worried about losing too much detail. I'd take some off top, bottom, and right and move that bird into the ROT's position on the right upper intersecting point.
Juvenile Osprey
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