Critique Style Requested: Standard
The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
This time of the year I enjoy going through some older shots and don’t believe I’ve ever shared this one from 2020. On the lower CT River, where osprey (along with bald eagles) have made a significant comeback due to cleaner water and conservation efforts.
Specific Feedback
All comments and suggestions are welcome and thanks for viewing.
Technical Details
Sony RX10M4, ISO 80, f4, 1/800, 600mm. Adjusted exposure in post, as well as sharpness, cropped a lot.
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Hi Jim, nice feeding behavior captured at just the right moment with a really nice pose from the youngster. Birds seem soft. Wondering if this was a big crop as I would think 1/800 could have rendered good sharpness of this kind of action. Image seems overly bright with some blown highlights on the head of the bird. Overall, in this strong light, I think you could shoot at a bit higher ISO (like 400), narrower aperture, and faster shutter speed to yield bit darker highlights and to ensure fine sharpness. Still, a pleasing behavioral image.
Thank you for your helpful comments @Allen_Sparks . Yes, it was quite a large crop from the original.
Good timing to get this nice behavioral shot, Jim. Good look at the chick and the bit of food.
Great behavior, Jim. Allen gave some good advice. The main issue with this is the main issue with so many Osprey-on-a-nest images in that the nests are not at all photogenic and they are almost inevitably slightly out of focus if the birds are in focus. There are a few I’ve seen where the photographer managed to find a vantage point above the nest, but it’s rare to find one so situated. We have several nest platforms around here and I’ve thought many times about renting a bucket lift, but it would have to set there long enough for them to get used to it. The old-time bird photographers used to build tower blinds to photograph birds in nests like this-one even found a set of scaffolding for sale relatively cheaply and kept it handy for this kind of thing.
@Dennis_Plank thanks for your interesting comments. A bucket lift wouldn’t work in my area because most of the nests are on the water but I’ve sometimes wondered if a drone, from a distance, would disturb them.
Th only problem with drones is that they all have pretty wide-angle lenses unless you go to the super expensive ones, so I’d hate to take one close enough to get a really good shot for fear they might attack it and get hurt.
