Respect the Osprey

[purplehaze]

On Sunday evening, I staked out one of five osprey nests that line a short span of highway near the family cottage. It was the first occasion on which I had spent any time observing these birds and it was immensely rewarding. Of course, every time they took flight, I had turned my attention elsewhere and was unprepared for the shot and the real drama came when I had finally shouldered the tripod to leave. As I was clambering down the cliff, the pair returned to the nest, one of them with a big fish in its talons. It dropped the fish in the nest and then started to fly in a large circle directly above me in the light of the evening sun. I managed to grab a few shots before he finally flew out of range. They are not great quality, but they have helped make me appreciate the beauty and the fierceness of this bird.

#1
[IMG]_DSC6216 - Version 2 by Janis Hughes, on Flickr[/IMG]

#2
[IMG]_DSC6223 - Version 2 by Janis Hughes, on Flickr[/IMG]

These were shot with my 70-200 mm and 1.4 teleconverter. You can imagine how I am lusting for a really long lens.

[IzzieK]

Both very beautiful capture, Janis...if I have to choose just one, I'd love #2 -- it is the look in its eyes that is so captivating...one of my first lens investment for my latest camera acquisition (sounds big eh? ) is "my birding lens." Heavy bugger...but it is worth it to have...the big advantage is not having to crop most of the time...anyway, moving on...there is a little white thing on the top feathers of #1. I did not see it at first but when I was choosing a preference I saw it...it can easily be removed...I am just showing off being critical...

[Ndukes]

Excellent Janis. I would be very proud of these if they were mine.

[Donald]

Wonderful. Despite all my gadgetry, I never seem to be able to really nail the focus on 'bird-in-flight' shots. You've got it here beautifully.

[Ziggy]

You did good.

[Shadowman]

Nicely done.

[marlunn]

Janis, very envious, fantastic birds, and really great shots, love #2 - same reasons as Izzie but also like the claws in #1 - you can see why they are so good at holding onto their prey !

[ST1]

Two very good images Janis, in the second one you've got the focus spot on that eye is tremendous well done

[purplehaze]

Thanks, guys; am rather surprised you don't have more criticism for me. My DOF could have been better in #1, and #2 suffers from being a heavy crop, but I did what I could in PP to compensate for their flaws.

Izzie, I took that bright bit on the wing to be sun through feathers, but I will take a closer look to make sure. Thanks for pointing it out.

I have been practising panning with my tripod head in gimbal mode in the dining room, so hopefully, my next attempts at capturing BIF won't be as clumsy as Sunday's.

[Dave Humphries]

Thanks, guys; am rather surprised you don't have more criticism for me. My DOF could have been better in #1, and #2 suffers from being a heavy crop, but I did what I could in PP to compensate for their flaws.

While it is true they are not perfect Janis, but much of what we get when photographing BIF is down to sheer luck on the day, so just being there, more often and longer, helps a lot. One day it might come close enough, etc. You are not making any obvious, huge, technical errors.

These are actually about the level I usually achieve with Red Kites (similar colour scheme on top - and we don't get Osprey local to me) - and if I could achieve a higher standard, I'd relate how, but for the moment, through having lost interest, I can't help much

I know the theory, but I also know that putting it in to practice, is so very difficult.

The 'heavy crop' and trying to make the most in PP are situations I am well versed in, I still take them, but just never publish because I don't feel they are as good as I feel they ought to be.

I think the answer is, we should be firm with ourselves; don't take the BIF picture unless;
- the sun is lighting the subject (not backlit)
- it isn't against a 'white-out' sky, blue is preferable
- if against some background other than sky, that it is far enough away to be well out of focus
- we're sure we've got focus locked on the head (and not the background!)
- the bird fills the frame
- there are no parts of the bird being clipped; tail, wing tips, head! (i.e. it's not too close)
- we have the exposure on manual, set to avoid blowing the white bits
- the shutter speed is fast enough
- the IS/VR is on and working well - or off, if not
- we are using the lens 'best' aperture
- we are using an aperture that is giving enough DoF (if bird comes close enough)
- we are competent panning and can keep that focus point on the subject's head

Then shoot in burst mode so we don't take one shot of it (accidentally) with the wing beat in front of the eye.

HTH, Dave

[Stagecoach]

Janis, you captured them, that's a great start

I like the way No 2 has his eye on you.

The techs are easy, the problem is getting the conditions in which you can use the best techs

Grahame

[purplehaze]

Sorry for not responding earlier, but I was at my sister's cottage in Canadian Shield country this weekend, where the wireless connection was spotty.

If techs are the easy part, Grahame, I am in trouble.

Thanks for the handy checklist, Dave. Points well taken and I will try to keep them in mind for next time!

[csa mt]

I would be most thrilled to have captured either of your images! I love both of them, very nicely done!

[bnnrcn]

They seem great to me Janis

[JohnRostron]

Respect, Janis. Respect.

John

[purplehaze]

Thanks, Carol, Binnur and John. If you can stand a few more, I just finished processing the ones that follow, all of which are heavy crops.

The nest I had staked out is one of five nesting platforms that Hydro has built in the area to accommodate the expanding population. A decade ago, this bird was endangered in the province, I believe, but their numbers have been steadily recovering. It is good to see.

When I arrived, the larger bird was in the nest, and immediately started vocalizing, either to me, or about me, I believe, as it kept its eye on me quite a lot as I stood watching and shooting from the cliff below. It flew off to one far perch, I think to try to draw me away, and then, when I didn't follow, to one immediately across the road from me. Or perhaps that is its normal behaviour; I will have to spend more time watching them, and comparing notes with the birders in the area. In any case, it looked quite imposing perched on top of a tall conifer:

#3
[IMG]_DSC6145 - Version 2 by Janis Hughes, on Flickr[/IMG]

A smaller bird then flew into to the nest, which I took to be the female of the mating pair, but which I now think is a juvenile. I have learned that female osprey are actually larger than the males; it takes the young two years to mature and, while the adult birds have yellow eyes, the young have orange.

#4
[IMG]_DSC6162 - Version 2 by Janis Hughes, on Flickr[/IMG]

This one, too, was doing a lot of vocalizing.

#5
[IMG]_DSC6198 - Version 2 by Janis Hughes, on Flickr[/IMG]

And lastly, one more of the larger bird as he or she circled above me in the evening sun:

#6
[IMG]_DSC6222 - Version 2 by Janis Hughes, on Flickr[/IMG]

[Cantab]

Janis, this is a good set of photos. You mentioned that these were all heavily cropped. You must be doing something right to have them so clear, especially #4 (on the nest)!

[JBW]

the moments when our brothers and sisters in the wild choose to share with us are magical

[purplehaze]

Thanks, Bruce. The light was good and so I was able to shoot the resting shots at 100-200 ISO, switching to Auto ISO only when they took flight. I was using a great lens (Nikkor 70-200 mm f/4 with Nikkor 1.4 teleconverter) on a crop sensor (D7100), supported by a tripod (or maybe it was my monopod; I've already forgotten).

The one downer from this outing; I picked up a dose of poison ivy, likely from the bushes on the top of the cliff. I was expecting to shoot from the road at another nest, but it was empty and so I had moved on down to this one, where the cliff afforded a better vantage point than the road. I was keeping an eye out for the ivy initially, but when the birds started flying, of course, my eyes were on them, not the ground. Next time, I will wear long pants and socks.

[purplehaze]

the moments when our brothers and sisters in the wild choose to share with us are magical

You said it, Brian!