Ospreys from the long weekend

[Wulff 0]

Spent the Canada Day Long weekend camping at a place called Silent Lake.

 

Spent some time shooting Osprey

 

 

 

 

Hey! how'd you get in here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hope you enjoyed them

[letumgo 0]

Absolutely breath-taking photographs, Wulff! Every one of your photos are gorgeous. You have a wonderful gift. Thank you for sharing.

[Vito1 0]

Wonderful photos, Wulff. Top notch. Thanks for sharing.

[Steeldrifter 0]

Beautiful photos Wulff.

 

Steve

[Mokai 0]

I dont even know what to say about your photos Wulff..I have run out of good words..I will just agree with the others.. I know that the skill of these photos is in the photographer, but I am still curious as to what size lens you use for your bird shots..I just picked up a 300mm f/4 with a 1.4 Teleconverter , mounted on my D40 that does not have a full frame sensor..So add another 1.5 X for a total of 630mm equivalent..I think this will give me some nice reach for learning bird photography..

 

Thanks for inspiring Wulff...

[Wulff 0]

Thanks for the kind words all.

 

Mokai. I use Canons 30D ( 1.6 crop) and their 400 f5.6 for my wildlife shooting. Occasionally I'll add a 1.4 TC to that as well, but not too often as I find the AF to be unpredictable. The TC combo does AF but it hunts for a second or so "sometimes" and that can result in missed chances with Birds in Flight. For static shots I dont mind adding the TC at all so that can give me an effective 900mm on the 1.6 crop body. That said, most often I dont add the TC though as at heart Im a Bird in flight junkie and AF speed is critical for that. So its the 400mm on the 30D and with birds, especially birds of prey reach as you know cna be an issue.

 

For these shots I was pretty close to their nest, typically 50 feet and trying to stay on their flight path to take advantage of the directional light as much as possible. Osprey unlike other hawks seem to be pretty tolerant of human presence. So getting frame filling images was pretty easy it was more an issue in patience waiting for a male to return or leave the nest. Therefore most of these are full frame and the one that are cropped are cropped just a small bit for composition, rather than as a need fill more of the frame. In fact I deleted dozens of shots where I clipped some wings because I was too close to the bird.

 

A 300mm isn't all that different really. Ive tried a friends 500 f4 and Ive tried a freinds 1DkIIN ( 1.3 crop pro body) and while each changes the reach somewhat (more or less) none of them by themselves are deal breakers. The key really is regardless of hardware remains getting as close as possible to the subject. .

 

With Osprey its a matter of locating some active nest you can get close to and then being patient.

[Frogfish 0]

Beautiful!

[Graham 0]

Stunningly beautiful photography. Osprey's sure are amazing birds and the lake looks beautiful.

 

Graham

[Wulff 0]

Thanks again all.

 

I processed a few more last night, a couple of which may be my favorites so going to add a couple more.

 

Like the upturned stare on this one

 

Full frame shot at about 30feet where the clipping to both wings was balanced.

 

Hovering in the wind

 

Really like the wing positions in this one

 

Another wing position I really like

 

Possibly my favorite shot of the day

 

In two weeks Im off to Nova Scotia and with luck I'll find some Eagles to shoot

 

[stonefly1 0]

Stunning photos Wulff! These birds are truly amazing and incredible at catching fish. The sight of a fishing osprey always make me stop fishing to watch the master at work. Thanks for sharing!

[Guest]

Very nice photos Wulff I can't wait to see more of your wildlife photos.

 

Jim

[JeremyB 0]

Hi, I have registered on this site just so that I can post my appreciation of these photographs. I am registered on another fly fishing site (www.flyforums.co.uk) and one of our members posted a link to these pictures.

In turn, I have posted the link on another forum that I am a member of (www.photographycafe.com), thread http://www.photography-cafe.com/forum/index.php?topic=3815.0

These pics just deserve the widest audience possible. They are magnificent!

I am green with envy!

Jeremy

[Wulff 0]

Thanks for the sentiments Jeremy. Its flattering (and kind of scary in a good way) to know others from abroad appreciate ones photos. I read the cafe thread and appreciate the comments, would be curious to see the uk one that tipped (maybe pm me?).

 

Either way, as I mentioned earlier in the thread I was fortunate enough to be close to the nest. Then its just a matter of patience as they come and go and trying as best as possible to get them in front light (not always possible). With the 400 f5.6 mounted theres plenty of frame filling shots and lots trashed due to clipped wings etc. Some are cropped either for compositional purposes etc. Here in Ontario there are numerous nest to choose from as Osprey are making a fantastic comeback, so its not *that* hard getting relatively close them. Im still trying (praying) to get shots of them actively fishing but thats another kettle of fish .

 

J

 

 

 

 

[Graham 0]

AWESOME shots, all of them are fantastic. Wow. Ospreys are such magnificent creatures, and you really captured their glory so nicely, very nicely.

 

Graham

[mnorton 0]

Very Very Cool photo...love wathcing birds of prey doing there thing.......but since no one asked I will

photo #6 what kinda bird was that never seen one that big and brown with a big long snout and nose and eyes :hyst: :hyst: :hyst:

But on the serious side very excellent photography :headbang: :headbang: mike