On the Prowl.

[dankearl]

One more Osprey in flight image from the Columbia River Channel.
Another large crop at high Iso (25% of original), but I hardly ever get a decent top side view.
Forest background.
NR on BG only.

1/1000
f5.6
ISO 2500
500mm (300 f2.8 w/ 1.7x)
HH
Nikon D800

DSC_1070bp3.jpg

[Randy Stout]

Dan:

The wing and tail dorsal view very nice, good BG, I like the comp.

The whites on the head look like they were overexposed and brought back in post, giving that grey, washed out look. I have been there a few times

Can you elaborate about your post processing work?

Cheers

Randy

[dankearl]

Thanks Randy, yes the head was hot. Shooting in the low light, I knew the iso was going to be really high (I have been using auto ISO because I have found with the D800, that it doesn't matter that much), so I exposed "to the right",
And that small white head against the dark BG was blown. I don,t know how you could expose for the white only in this kind of photo, so any advise would be appreciated.
I do all PP in NX2 only, I crop (pretty big in this case), adjust light levels (if I expose right I darken it quite a bit), adjust color (I use auto WB but still saturate color a tad and also warm it a bit).
I ran NR twice on the BG, sharpened the bird only and tried to tone down the white with levels (it did turn grey as you noted).
That is it.

[Bill Dix]

Nice dorsal view and good wing detail. The Recovery slider in NX2 often works well on areas like the head if not too far blown, but I'm sure you know that. This one may have been beyond recovery. Nice flight image in any case.

[gail bisson]

Hi Dan,
I fear the IQ is not up to par with this large crop and the blown whites on the head.
You have a good HA and top side view and I can see why you like it.
You just have to go out and do it again and find the happy medium of controlling the whites on the head and keeping the dark feathers as far to the right as possible without blowing the whites. I am sure you will figure it out. I had the same problem with my eagle shots but trial and error eventually showed me the way and now I just instinctively know what I need in bright light,
Gail

[arash_hazeghi]

Nice top side view but the head is blown.

To photograph ospreys you need to use manual exp. auto ISO etc. will not work. The camera meter does not see that small head compared to the BG especially when the bird is small in the frame.

the only reliable method for photographing birds in flight against varied BG is manual exposure IMO.

[Randy Stout]

Dan:

Good advice from Gail and Arash. Soft light helps reduce the dynamic range that you need to record. Absolutely agree on the manual exposure. Loons present similar difficulties, and the meter is always fooled by the dark plumage, and often dark water, and blows out the whites.

The neat thing with this situation is you should have lots more opportunities!

Cheers

Randy