As @Tom Reichner suggested, I went out looking for this osprey's nest since it hangs out around the pond here near my house. Surprisingly I haven't been able to locate it yet. The hunt continues...
Until I do (hopefully) find it I wanted to share some shots of it living it's raptor life in my backyard. As I'm still new to this, these aren't the greatest shots - slightly out of focus, blown highlights - but I'm trying to make them better.
In these shots it reaches into the water but comes up empty.
Critique is always welcome.
Those hitting-the-water shots are extremely difficult to do to any degree of perfection. Kudos to you for trying such a difficult task when you are new to bird photography!
Thank you, Tom! I'll definitely keep trying.
As you mentioned, the highlights are a bit blown out. Based off the exif, these were shot at Shutter Priority, 1/2000 sec, f6.3, ISO (range 2500+), Compensation +1/3. I'm assuming you shoot in RAW, I would have either:
a. Shot in manual since you've already decided on a shutter speed and you have a tight range on your aperture, f5-f6.3. Only thing to adjust is the ISO. Instead of 2500, you most likely would have gotten away with 1 stop under at 1250.
b. If in shutter priority, pay attention to your exposure compensation. Instead of +1/3, you most likely could have done -1.
The background seems busy. I would:
a. Try to pick shots where the subject is away from the background as much as possible.
b. Shoot the 150-600 at 600.
c. Shoot horizontal to cover the wingspan so you can zoom in more to focus on the subject with less background distractions.
I appreciate your feedback and suggestions.
I had the ISO set to auto while in shutter priority but no harm in going full manual. I'll give it a go on the next outing.
I realized how busy the background was when it was hard to pick out the heron perched on a branch. That's going to be a tough one as they love to perch in a high wall of trees right at the water's edge. I do get some shots as they fly away with a much less busy background. I'll have to try to get a different position for a clean background when they go to dive so they can stand out better.
I should have pointed out that the posts were cropped down. Below is an uncropped shot. And two with a cleaner backgrounds.
Thanks again for the tips!
Good attempts. The good thing is that you know where the bird is likely to be and can keep trying. I am trying to find some interesting birds and where they frequent.
Thank you. Good luck!