Osprey without a fish

[Harryb]

Hi you'll,

He had a possum
http://behret.smugmug.com/photos/17581347-L.jpg

He landed on the tree for awhile
http://behret.smugmug.com/photos/17581352-L.jpg

didn't like the noise from the D2H
http://behret.smugmug.com/photos/17581355-L.jpg

so he took his possum and went home
http://behret.smugmug.com/photos/17581359-L.jpg

[morrisphotography2003]

all I can say is you got a way with birds. you ever think of putting together a book for all the bird lovers out there. Keep 'em coming Harry.:thumb :thumb Hi you'll,

He had a possum
http://behret.smugmug.com/photos/17581347-L.jpg

He landed on the tree for awhile
http://behret.smugmug.com/photos/17581352-L.jpg

didn't like the noise from the D2H
http://behret.smugmug.com/photos/17581355-L.jpg

so he took his possum and went home
http://behret.smugmug.com/photos/17581359-L.jpg

[gtc]

harry

excellent series -what lens are you using?how far away were you from the subject?

greg

[ehughes]

Harry, excellent work, I really like the first one. Was the osprey really big or was it a fairly small possum?

And I agree, you should do a "Birds of Florida" book :thumb

Ed

[ginger_55]

Those birds are beautiful, Harry. You did a great job...........or it is just the new camera. I shoulda switched to Nikon, my birds would fly closer.:rofl

That is half a possum. I am beginning to think these beautiful birds do not have a heart of gold. It was one thing when the Ospreys I saw (at a great distance) were just carrying small fish, but this is getting to be a bit much. We cook our meat, at least.:D

Wonderful series.

ginger

[Harryb]

all I can say is you got a way with birds. you ever think of putting together a book for all the bird lovers out there. Keep 'em coming Harry.:thumb :thumb
Thank you Robert. That book has been done a number of times and sadly by photographers way more talented than myself. :cry

[Harryb]

harry

excellent series -what lens are you using?how far away were you from the subject?

greg
HI Greg,

I was using my 300mm/F4.0 lens and the Nikon 1.4 TC. He was about 10 yards away and 25 feet up when I took these pics.

[Harryb]

Harry, excellent work, I really like the first one. Was the osprey really big or was it a fairly small possum?

And I agree, you should do a "Birds of Florida" book :thumb

Ed
Hey Ed,

It was a fairly small possum from what I could see, also part fo the possum had been consumed already. Thanks for the kind words I do appreciate them.

[pathfinder]

Those birds are beautiful, Harry. I am beginning to think these beautiful birds do not have a heart of gold.

It was one thing when the Ospreys I saw (at a great distance) were just carrying small fish, but this is getting to be a bit much. We cook our meat, at least.:D

Wonderful series.

ginger

Raptors don't have hearts of gold, Ginger, they are true apex carnivores!

Great shots Harry!! I'm beginning to think the Florida birds are used to snow bird tourists and their cameras. I am not able to get anywhere near 10 yards to large birds locally. :dunno

[ginger_55]

Harry, you are getting the same reach I am. Since my birds want to hang out in the middle of a marsh, maybe I should get a 2Xs extender.

g

[bfjr]

Pristine Harry :thumb

If ya got a minute can you tell me what I'm doing wrong (besides prententing to a photographer :D ), but why won't they look at me:

http://bfjr.smugmug.com/photos/17591458-L.jpg

:lol4

[Kirwin]

Wonderful series, Harry. Nice to see an Osprey that's perched on a tree instead of a man made "dish network" perch. Thanks for sharing.



all I can say is you got a way with birds. you ever think of putting together a book for all the bird lovers out there. Keep 'em coming Harry.:thumb :thumb

[Harryb]

Those birds are beautiful, Harry. You did a great job...........or it is just the new camera. I shoulda switched to Nikon, my birds would fly closer.:rofl

That is half a possum. I am beginning to think these beautiful birds do not have a heart of gold. It was one thing when the Ospreys I saw (at a great distance) were just carrying small fish, but this is getting to be a bit much. We cook our meat, at least.:D

Wonderful series.

ginger
Hey Ginger,

Thanks for the kind words. Everybody should switch to Nikon if they want to shoot birds. Its a well known fact that birds are afraid of white lenses. :rofl

Birds ain't particularly nice. They spend their days looking for food and anything smaller than them is lunch. They have evolved from dinsoaurs.

[Harryb]

Pristine Harry :thumb

If ya got a minute can you tell me what I'm doing wrong (besides prententing to a photographer :D ), but why won't they look at me:

:lol4
Hey Ben,

Ah, the classic duck butt shot. :thumb Most shots of duck are of their butts. I have hundreds of duck butt pictures. Its a very unappreciated niche in wildlife photography. :D

[sash]

excellent set, harry - your bird shots have long been an inspiration. i hope to take a swing at capturing some of these buggers too in a month or so.
glad to hear they don't like white lenses, i can't afford one anyway:lol4

[Harryb]

Raptors don't have hearts of gold, Ginger, they are true apex carnivores!

Great shots Harry!! I'm beginning to think the Florida birds are used to snow bird tourists and their cameras. I am not able to get anywhere near 10 yards to large birds locally. :dunno
Hey PF,

Thanks. All of the out-of -staters I have shot with are amazed by how close you cna get to the birds down here. Couple of weeks ago I met a shooter from Ireland as we were shooting an eagle and he was telling me that he could never get that close to an eagle in Europe.

[wxwax]

Pristine Harry :thumb

If ya got a minute can you tell me what I'm doing wrong (besides prententing to a photographer :D ), but why won't they look at me:

http://bfjr.smugmug.com/photos/17591458-Th.jpg

:lol4

There's a pond nearby where a family of three ducks hangs out. I can't get closer than 50 yards. :bluduh

Also, that image looks underexposed. It kinda looks like your camera saw all the bright reflections and white ducks, and turned them all to a middle gray (kinda like shooting snow.) You can dial in Exposure Compensation on your camera - you might try +2/3 next time you try a shot like this, see if it looks better exposed. :dunno

[Shakey]

Harry all those shots seem to have a problem ... They are like great ribs the only problem is getting full and not being able to eat any more.

I think a reshoot is in order.:D


Tim

[bfjr]

There's a pond nearby where a family of three ducks hangs out. I can't get closer than 50 yards. :bluduh

Also, that image looks underexposed. It kinda looks like your camera saw all the bright reflections and white ducks, and turned them all to a middle gray (kinda like shooting snow.) You can dial in Exposure Compensation on your camera - you might try +2/3 next time you try a shot like this, see if it looks better exposed. :dunno Don't want to Hijack Harry's thread, but check out this thread. Tell me if I did better:

http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=8111

Would not normally post an image like that, but figured it went with my reply :thumb

[wxwax]

Don't want to Hijack Harry's thread, but check out this thread. Tell me if I did better:

http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=8111

Would not normally post an image like that, but figured it went with my reply :thumb
Harry makes a good point in his post - shooting white birds in the sunlight is an invitation for blown-out whites. That's what you have in the first shot. In the second one, the bird's a wee bit dark but you saved all the highlights - unfortunately, the rest of the shot is dark. Tough problem shooting in the middle of the day. Maybe too tough.

Sorry for the hijack, Harry!

[Harryb]

Wonderful series, Harry. Nice to see an Osprey that's perched on a tree instead of a man made "dish network" perch. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Kerwin. I love that tree. Its a favorite perch for the local raptors. I've gotten shots of Bald Eagles, Crested Caracaras and Ospreys just by checking out that same tree whenever I'm in the wetlands.

[Harryb]

excellent set, harry - your bird shots have long been an inspiration. i hope to take a swing at capturing some of these buggers too in a month or so.
glad to hear they don't like white lenses, i can't afford one anyway:lol4Hey Sash,

Thanks very much for the kind words. I'm looking forward to see how you make out with those buggers. Where are you going to be shooting?

[Harryb]

Harry all those shots seem to have a problem ... They are like great ribs the only problem is getting full and not being able to eat any more.

I think a reshoot is in order.:D


Tim
Hey Tim,

You said the magic word. Andy should be by shortly. :rofl

I've sent an e-mail to the osprey in an attempt to schedule that rehoot you requested.

[Harryb]

Harry makes a good point in his post - shooting white birds in the sunlight is an invitation for blown-out whites. That's what you have in the first shot. In the second one, the bird's a wee bit dark but you saved all the highlights - unfortunately, the rest of the shot is dark. Tough problem shooting in the middle of the day. Maybe too tough.

Sorry for the hijack, Harry!
Hey Sid,

I love these types of hijacks. They are discussing one of the real issues that we have to deal with. In my osprey shots I ahd a bird with white feathers and very dark feathers. I opted to expose for the white feathers (I blew them out just a tad in spots). In my post I had to use Capture's D-Lighting (its version of PS's Shadows and Highlights tool) to bring out the details in the darker feathers.

Like the point Dixie makes in the ducks thread you can't recover the details from the areas that are blown out you can use PS to recover details in the shadows (of course you will have to deal with the accompanying noise).

[wxwax]

Hey Sid,

I love these types of hijacks. They are discussing one of the real issues that we have to deal with. In my osprey shots I ahd a bird with white feathers and very dark feathers. I opted to expose for the white feathers (I blew them out just a tad in spots). In my post I had to use Capture's D-Lighting (its version of PS's Shadows and Highlights tool) to bring out the details in the darker feathers.

Like the point Dixie makes in the ducks thread you can't recover the details from the areas that are blown out you can use PS to recover details in the shadows (of course you will have to deal with the accompanying noise).

:nod I hesitated to suggest PS work 'cause I'm guessing that ol' bfjr doesn't have it. But I agree completely, expose for the highlights then fix the dark parts in post. I had the devil of a time exposing properly for highlights when I chased my little duckies around their pond a few times.

[Harryb]

Harry, you are getting the same reach I am. Since my birds want to hang out in the middle of a marsh, maybe I should get a 2Xs extender.

g
Hey Ginger,

The 2X TC will give you the cheapest access to 600mm but it will slow down your 4.0 lens to either a 7.1 or 8.0 lens. You will lose some sharpness and you would definitely need a tripod to shoot with it.

[pathfinder]

Hey Ginger,

The 2X TC will give you the cheapest access to 600mm but it will slow down your 4.0 lens to either a 7.1 or 8.0 lens. You will lose some sharpness and you would definitely need a tripod to shoot with it.
And I believe a 20D won't autofocus at f8 or smaller - even the more sensitive center AF point. And manual focus at f8 without a split image rnage finder is a real treat and a half.

That's why it is so important to have teles that are at least f5.6 - and that is slos for early morning or late evenind as you are aware Harry.

[Steve Cavigliano]

You know you could have stretched the truth a bit and told us that was a fish in his beak and most of us would have never known the difference.....lol

Really nice in flight shots and I love those yellow eyes in the last pic :thumb :thumb


Good work as usual :clap :clap


You're gonna have to find a part-time job. You have entirely too much free time on your hands :lol How are us working folks supposed to keep up with you? :wink


Thanks for sharing,
Steve

[Harryb]

And I believe a 20D won't autofocus at f8 or smaller - even the more sensitive center AF point. And manual focus at f8 without a split image rnage finder is a real treat and a half.

That's why it is so important to have teles that are at least f5.6 - and that is slos for early morning or late evenind as you are aware Harry.Yes PF I am too aware of that. That's why this lens is on top of my impossible dream list http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=234173&is=USA

[Harryb]

You know you could have stretched the truth a bit and told us that was a fish in his beak and most of us would have never known the difference.....lol

Really nice in flight shots and I love those yellow eyes in the last pic :thumb :thumb
Good work as usual :clap :clap

You're gonna have to find a part-time job. You have entirely too much free time on your hands :lol How are us working folks supposed to keep up with you? :wink

Thanks for sharing,
Steve
Hey Steve,

I would never lie about any of my pics, you should know that. :bs

Thanks for the kind words but as for that part-time job stuff..... All I have to say is that after some 40 odd years in the work force my considered opinion of the concept of work is that .......
WORK SUCKS

Lets not raise the concept again.