Feeding the Family

Unfortunate on the clipped wing, but being this close has other rewards in image detail. This is better detail/sharpness than I can recall on any of your other posts, although it could still be better IMO.

Tough lighting as on most overhead birds. There's a noticeable halo around the distal third of each wing, especially on the clipped one. Shadow/Highlight use? If you are going to use S/H it gives you much more control if you duplicate the layer and make a selection on the subject only before calling up S/H controls.

Hey Bill,
This is an excellent image of a difficult capture, the handling of the light and dark areas are as perfect as can be done IMO.
The clipped wing, although not ideal, is unfortunately an unavoidable situation sometimes and has to be handled as best suits the image as you have done here.
Aces in my book . . .

Yeah you clipped the wing, but I agree with Rich that this is your best to date as far as sharpness and detail. A major step forward, Bill.

Thank you Rich, Mike and Charlie. (BTW, this was taken BEFORE the Warbler series.)

As per my earlier post re: closeness to subject, I would submit that is a MAJOR reason this is more up to standards in sharpness and detail. The Osprey nest platform is on the shore of one of PA's largest lakes, and just a matter of 20 yards from where we can observe it.

The clip was a big disappointment, but I'll take it for the reasons you've all stated. IN fact, I cropped it more to try and have a more "artsy" feel of the bird coming out of the TLC in sudden fashion.

As far as S/H use, I try to stay away from it to keep from creating halos, but this time I did. Without creating another layer, so there you have it, good detective work Richard. And thank you all for the advice and comments.

Nice and sharp! What is it carrying? Sharon

You could also select only the sky, then select "inverse" which would select only the bird. Then apply s/h and the sky won't be affected and you won't get the halo.