Osprey in Flight

[Lava Lamp]

I photographed this Osprey over the weekend with a Nikon D70 and 75-300 lens. Tell me what you think and how you improve it.

[PhoebeG]

Sorry, no suggestions for improvement, this is an awsome shot.

PG

[carpist]

Was this one shot or did you put the hammer down and fire off a burst? How much cropping? You still needed to get pretty close at 300mm, yes?

[Lava Lamp]

Was this one shot or did you put the hammer down and fire off a burst? How much cropping? You still needed to get pretty close at 300mm, yes?

With the D70, you get the equivalent of a 450mm lens using a 300mm. The bird was pretty close - maybe 100 ft. ot the tree and about that high up. I think it was one shot, but I'm not sure. It was cropped vertically and with about a thrid cropped off the top after that.

[PuckJunkey]

I love it.

I suppose you could tinker around with removing / cloning parts of the tree to alter the background but the way you've captured the subject itself is very compelling. I had three hawks swirling over my head the other day, but they were so high up I couldn't get them with my D-70 at 70mm. They just looked like miniatures or something when I previewed the shots. Next time I'll take my 80-200 out there.

[paulnj]

coming at you would be THE IMPROVEMENT needed, but exposure is right there with PERFECT, as is wing position

[gahspidy]

This is pretty good, but as Paulnj stated, a different angle would have been better. These are real hard to do and we usually don't get to control how we will view the bird. But you have this nice and clear, sharp enough and wings in good position to make this one worth looking at. Good job

[PuckJunkey]

I actually like the angle a lot because it so clearly shows the arc of the Osprey's wings in mid-flap. While it would be very cool head-on, I don't think the existing angle is a detractor because you can still see all of the bird. Were he a bit later / more to the left (where perhaps the bird's head might get obscured), I might agree the angle needs work. But as is I like it.

Again all subjective though; just like Gary's swans. Some people love the angle / posture of the bird, others not as much. Same deal here.