This photo was taken on Four Mile River, Ct. A group of Ospreys were fighting over this nest. The shot was taken on a tripod and cropped and adjusted in Lightroom 5.7.
Camera Model Canon EOS 7D, Shooting Date/Time 07/02/15 09:39:14
Shooting Mode Shutter-Priority AE, Tv(Shutter Speed) 1/1250
Av(Aperture Value) 7.1, Metering Mode Center-Weighted Average Metering
Exposure Compensation -2/3, ISO Speed 640
Auto ISO Speed OFF, Lens TAMRON SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD A011
Focal Length 483.0mm, White Balance Mode Auto
AF Mode AI Servo AF, AF area select mode Zone AF, AF Microadjustment 8
Thank you for stopping by.
Peter
Comments
5 commentsA very nice capture of the interaction here, Peter. I like that the birds are all about their business and not distracted by your presence. Nicely sharp throughout. A couple of nits: the whites on the birds seem to be a bit hot with attendant loss of the detail. Ospreys are famously difficlt to expose in bright light; I find using spot metering and using the chest or head works best.
I also wonder about composition. If you were to swing the lens a bit to the right to give the birds more virtual room to fly into, and move the left edge of nest to the left edge of the photo I wonder if the birds might be emphasized a bit more.
Hi Jim
There was more room but I though t the tree did not add anything to the photograph, as you can see. I also lower the hightlights.
Peter
Good interaction shot. I do agree with Jim on the composition. I think there is probably a solution without including the large bole or the tree. I think you might be able to stretch the canvas on the right side from the Osprey wing tip to the left top edge of the tree into fresh canvas by about 2 inches, then cropping to the nest on the left side. Worth a try.
Hi Phil
This is the best I could do in Lightroom.
Wonderful action, Peter. I'm a bit surprised that the -2/3 compensation soesn't seem to have tamed the whites, but sometimes it works that way. A trick I learned from Nate Chapelle for BIF shots is to use manual exposure control. I usually use the stationary bird, start with automatic exposure to see what it predicts and adjust down until the whites are just short of being blown. They you need to check the image review as the light changes during the shoot to make sure it's still satisfactory, but it keeps the bg from affecting the exposure of the bird. It works pretty slick, just takes a bit of time to get used to it.