Returned to Jamaica Bay Wildlife Center this past Monday to get an update on the Osprey family I've been monitoring. There was adult activity around the nest, but no chicks viewed. Supposedly there is one chick in the nest and it has not fledged up till now. Will try to catch the chick excercising it's wings before it fledges.
Hello Gene, a fine selection of osprey's you have here. IMO this is some difficult light to shoot in and it is easy, as I know from experience, to not allow enough additional exposure against a bright sky. This will make the images very contrasty and somewhat underexposed. You can perhaps reduce some contrast in your processing to aid them though they look pretty darn good if you only did minimal PP work
#2 is just the coolest look, love the spiked doo #4 is a great wingspread shot and the brightness could be reduced a bit IMO. #5 is also a cool shot, you had a great outing!
Nice pics Gene. Top picks are 5 and 7. I think you got some good tips there from Karl. I try and shoot Black Kites and I reallly have to wind up the exposure to get the detail out of them under the wing unless they are turning sideways into the light.
Martin
Which nest are you talking about? I was there about 10 days ago (Tuesday 6/30). I saw 2 chicks (fairly large) in the nest built on the south side of the West Pond (I guess this is in South Marsh / Black Wall Channel). Then I saw a pair nesting on the north side of the West Pond (I guess this is the Black Bank Marsh / Pumpkin Patch Channel). I didn't see any young in the nest. Possibly this is the area you're referring to. I do have photos of the nest where I did see the nestlings.
Unfortunately I did not have the time to visit the East Pond area.
My Osprey-in-flight photographs pale in comparison to yours. Great job. I don't recall either nest being so close as to give such close-up shots with a 400mm lens. Thanks for sharing.
Martin Good wrote:
Nice pics Gene. Top picks are 5 and 7. I think you got some good tips there from Karl. I try and shoot Black Kites and I reallly have to wind up the exposure to get the detail out of them under the wing unless they are turning sideways into the light.
Martin
Thanks for viewing and picking favorites, Martin. If you increase the exposure to get detail, don't you totally wash out the sky? If the sky is washed out, can we apply a new sky in post processing, or is that cheating on this forum? I asked this question before, but no one answered.
