Osprey (part 2)

Some more of the pair taken a few days ago. This time with a 1.4 TC.

Please leave constructive comment. I have thick skin.

I am fascinated by the range of sky blue hues you have captured!

As far as a critique goes, I'd offer a couple things:

- In images 3,4,5 and 6 the bird is facing away / moving away from the camera - part of a good bird photo is the eye contact / connection established with the viewer. Look for this contact when you are editting your images.

- it looks like these images were taken mid-day with the sun high in the sky - while you have done a reasonable job recovering shadow detail, the bird is always going to look better in direct light, without the harsh contrast of the shadows. This will mean either getting out earlier / later, getting a better / higher vantage point or waiting for postures / positions that put a good light on the bird (i.e. in this case, a steep, wings vertical banking turn might have yielded a better image).

Thanks Jeff, just what I was looking for.

This is my second try with this particular place. Last time was about 7:30pm and they were mostly sitting around the tall tower so decided to go earlier to catch them fly off for the evening meals.

Fortunately they did but as usual for a newbie things conspire against us and my panning skills with a camera pointed straight up are severely lacking.

They are very very high up and all I have is flat ground below that tower and no other options to get closer or higher. Surrounding country is a cultivated field and on the other side a densely wooded valley. So location is a real issue.

You are right of course with all your observations so no excuses on my part. The only thing now is what to do to keep the sky a consistent colour between shots and what shutter speed to use to stop motion blur but still get the under wings lightened up. All shots were ai servo, 1/1250, f8, evaluative (I think) and awb.

Will certainly try again in a few days and lets hope 3rd time will be better.

Thanks again for the very helpful input. Will come in handy for next time and other shoots.