Osprey moment I didn't want to miss! I need some assistance

[CeeCee]

was a flash of a moment shot so now you can see what I wish I had caught, at least better than I did. Do you see anyway I could improve on this? Is there a way to remove the post if I did it in raw (this is a stupid questions isn't it?).
I did this in a continuous shooting mode so i have loads of pics of the entire act but not one like this showing the his talons and her tail feathers up in the air.
I just don't want it to be a throw away.

[epmi314]

Cheryl,

I think the exposure and color are great. You needed a faster shutter to freeze the action of the wings and tail in a perfect world. Unless you have found a way to bend light the branch is there for good. I'd love to see some of the others in the series!

S

[jamn4ex]

Cheryl I am no pro but I spent some time last summer shooting osprey, I agree with Scott about the shutterspeed, dont be afraid of speed. If you can position yourself more left of the nest and still get the good light, I feel confident you can get the shot you desire.

[CeeCee]

You are definintly right about the shutter speed, I could shoot myself for that. I was in a tight squeeze for the shot but I think I am going to try to go again. The area is fenced off and I only have a 300mm. to get out of the site of the branch I have to move further away so I might need another lens. Any suggestion? I have a D7000

[Nat]

Cheryl, you can remove a small twig, as I did with my osprey shot I posted, but when it blocks the whole bird, well, you would have to have another shot of the bird to "insert" into your image after you remove this big branch. Do you have another clear shot of the bird?
Cheryl, may I suggest this:
http://www.lensextender.com/2009/05/...or-sports.html
notice he uses an ISO of 500 and and a super fast speed of 1/2000, all depending on your available light.
The teleconverter extends your 300mm to a 510mm.....it's an idea. Not cheap, but less than a lens at 500mm. You would have to find out if it is compatible with your lens. Anybody else on the forum have ideas about the teleconverter?
Also, if they are nesting, they will be back again and a again.....go take a lot of shots. They even take turns sitting on the nest while the other goes to eat. Sometimes, when they have baby birds, they fly in with fish to feed them. You will have plenty of opportunities to get some great shots! Have fun!

This has a list of what lenses are compatible with the 1.7 teleconverter and a price....ouch.
http://www.adorama.com/NKTC17E2U.html

Okay, next question I have, which is better, the 1.4 or the 1.7 teleconverter?

[Poaceae]

Cheryl, The D7000 has a 1.52 crop factor so a 300mm lens is effectively 456mm and a 1.4 converter takes it to 638mm. Since you are shooting a spot just above the nest, you could use a tripod and remote trigger to take the shots.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Cheryl,

Looking at the EXIF data; 1/125s, f16 and iso100 at 300mm are really not the best option for this type of shooting.

In these conditions, I would shoot at 400iso for a bird in flight, even though it is sunny - that would enable you to get to 1/500s.

Then I'd not use that narrow an aperture, since shutter speed is more important than DoF, so f/8 probably, or f/11 maybe - that would get you to 1/1000s to 1/2000s - speeds entirely suitable for this kind of shot.

That said, you were to an extent, both lucky and unlucky - lucky because despite the slow shutter speed, the bird's head and claw are sharp even viewed large (it must have been momentarily hovering) - unlucky because it was behind that huge branch

I would still recommend my settings above though, they'll help when you're not so 'lucky'.

Definitely like to see some where it isn't hidden though

Cheers,

[CeeCee]

All of you are great! I am going to check out all your ideas and check into the teleconverter. I would have changed by settings if I had seen him, but with him flying in was a total surprise. I lack photo ability with speed, I just haven't spent any time in this area so I guess it's time. Off to the store and back to reading, oh, and I have to go get a chainsaw.

[CeeCee]

Oh, I'll post some of the shots I have tonight.

[benm]

You will have to do some serious "post" processing. Here is my try:




However, in all seriousness, just go back to the nest and shoot again.

[tomtom]

cheryl, i have a d7000,nikon 300mm,f2.8, vr2 and i use a teleconverter quite often for wildlife photos. i use a nikon tc2.0 level 3 teleconverter. the level3 design is totally new and is far superior to the level2, i have used both. you will lose 2 stops and af still works fine. may be hard to find, but a great product. also suggest shutter priority. set the shutter for the "anticipated" movement that you know is going to occur when the animal moves. the camera cannot "anticipate". you have to tell it. this may cause some flak but, in most wildlife stuff i do i use auto iso,it saves time and works fine on the d7000. hope this helps.

[kirkt]

What is the intended final output? Are you aiming to print? Web? The D7000 has 4,928 x 3,262 pixels. You can probably get away with some significant cropping and still print at 200 ppi for a decent sized print.

kirk

[CeeCee]

I created an album with 13 pictures, uncropped, for your viewing pleasure. thanks for all your help.

[Glenn NK]

Cheryl:

One of the hardest things I had to learn about photography was when to throw something in the bin.

When I shot colour slides, I never let anyone see them until I had culled them carefully - the rejects went into the garbage can (under something else).

Glenn

[CeeCee]

Thanks Glenn, I had a feeling a couple of times like that. But I just couldn't do it.