Osprey

Osprey (Image ID 52212)
Photographed byMeredith Krust-McKay on Sat 20th Nov, 2021 and uploaded on Wed 6th Jul, 2022 .
Resolution1800x1223
Viewed492
ID52212
CommentThis photograph was taken from my front balcony on a wet, overcast day (hand-held) There was only a short opportunity to capture this Osprey shaking water from it's feathers, and in hindsight I wish I had taken a few extra moments to alter the camera settings. I've not seen the Osprey return to the area or perch since, so the photograph feels like one of those rare opportunities. I appreciate there a number of limitations to the image, but if possible would like to try to improve it through further processing or creative edits. The image is cropped, has had Topaz sharpen and de-noise applied (25%), and minor adjustments to exposure/contrast/highlights (Adobe Light Room). Thank you for your assistance where possible.
EquipmentNikon Z50; Sigma 150-600mm f/5.0-6.3, Nikon FTZ adaptor; 600mm 1/400 sec, ISO 320, f/6.3
LocationMerimbula, New South Wales
Keywordsadult, behaviour/display
This image is not available for download.
Con Boekel2022-07-13 18:20:13Hi Meredith
The only suggestion I would make would be to increase the general amount of light across the image to see what happens. Both the whites and the darks in the bird look dullish. As you note... altering the settings by dialing up the ISO would probably have generated a different result. The shutter speed is also a bit low for a bird that is frisking its plumage during clearning. One of the problems with a big lens can be depth of field. Depending on how far the bird was away, f8 might have been better than f/5.0 -6.3. There seems to be a slight halo effect along some of the edges - this could be an artefact of over sharpening.
kind regards
Con
Meredith Krust-McKay2022-07-14 06:51:25--Hi Con, thank you for the helpful feedback on the image and guidance regarding settings. Greatly appreciated. Regards, Meredith
Con Boekel2022-07-16 09:20:04Meredith
No worries. I have a further suggestion. I like manual because it helps me to understand the relationships between the various settings. When twirling the buttons I try to guess the degree of change required to get the light right and then I twirl the button. This helps me predict it better next time and it also sensitizes me to what the light is doing.
kind regards
Con
Meredith Krust-McKay2022-07-17 07:23:37Hi Con,

Thank you for the additional guidance. I've been on my photography journey about 2-years now and took the 'scary leap' to manual mode about 6-months ago. Compared to when the above photograph was taken, I'm certainly starting to see improvement in the quality of my images using manual mode. But I do find gauging the lighting the hardest. I am still at the stage of using the histogram to guide me, but I often find what the histogram indicates and what I think I'm seeing with my eye look totally different. If I am guided by the histogram the image seems too bright on the LCD, but if I rely on what I think I am seeing with my eye invariably the image is under exposed. Are you able to comment on whether this is usual when in the early stages of learning photography. I've wondered if there are other settings in my camera I don't understand or haven't thought about, or is it something that just takes practice and as you suggest, becoming more sensitized to degrees of change? Thanks in advance for any additional guidance and I will certainly start applying your suggestion. Kind regards, Meredith
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