We returned home Thursday after spending three wonderful days camping at Flaming Gorge in NE Utah.
This is very close to the view we had on most mornings from our primitive campsites (two of them), though this image was taken the morning before the Osprey photo, below. As you’ll see, the lighting conditions were dramatically different…
We were enjoying ourselves to the point that we considered staying a fourth day but on Thursday morning it was cloudy and raining off and on so we decided to head for home but couldn’t resist paying a pair of nesting Ospreys one last short visit before I hooked up the camping trailer and we hit the road. We had light on the birds through a crack in the clouds at the horizon for about 5 minutes as the sun came up (and the birds were doing nothing interesting) but immediately after that the clouds between us and the sun were thick, dark and constantly threatening. Of course one of the birds chose that particular time to become more active and fly around the area of the nest. Awful timing!
There simply wasn’t sufficient light to get enough shutter speed for flight shots. I never shoot my Canon 7D over ISO 800 because it introduces too much digital noise for my tastes but the potential for interesting shots made me decide to go for broke and set my ISO at 1000. I’d rather have sharp shots with some noise than a blurry bird any day. But that didn’t work either because I could tell on my camera screen that the Osprey was still not sharp.
I was frustrated and my mind was whirling, trying to come up with a way to get more shutter speed. I figured I’d already increased my ISO as much as I dared (especially with the dark background) and f/5.6 is my limit with the teleconverter attached. I could remove the tc and go to f/4 to increase my SS but I wasn’t close enough to the nest to get the detail I wanted without using it – besides I won’t approach nesting birds closely (I was shooting from my pickup from pavement) and that would make the angle too steep anyway. There had to be another way…
1/500, f/5.6, ISO 1000, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, noise reduction applied to background only, not baited, set up or called in
This is the female of the pair (notice the prominent “necklace” around the neck, she is also larger than the male). They were incubating eggs and she had just relieved the male on the eggs. When the male flew off she quickly circled the nest in flight before coming in for a landing to resume incubation. The background is a heavily shaded mountain and you can see at least one raindrop under the left wing of the bird.
Not long before this shot was taken another method of increasing shutter speed came to me – why not try deliberately underexposing the bird? That would give me more SS and make the bird in flight sharper but then I would have to deal with increasing exposure in post-processing. This was not a natural decision for me (I’m surprised I even thought of it in all the excitement) – the importance of getting exposure as close to “right” in camera as possible has been engrained in me for years because of the problems to image quality that can sometimes result when exposure is increased significantly during post-processing.
So, that’s what I did and I’m happy with the results, given the conditions. Underexposing the image increased my shutter speed to 1/500 sec, just enough to get the Osprey sharp as it landed (there’s some motion blur in the wing tips but I’m fine with that).
I’ll be posting more Osprey images (and a few other species) from this trip over the next week or two, illustrating what I thought were a few of my successes and some of the frustrations of the shooting situations I faced. Those frustrations can be aggravating in the extreme (at least for my personality type…) but looking back I can see that I learned some valuable photography lessons on this trip.
I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.
Ron
Note: I suspect that this post may include a little too much photography “jargon” to interest some who may be more interested in the image than how it was created. But many of my readers are also bird photographers so I occasionally go this route…
As a 7D user (400 mm f2.8 + 2x TC) I appreciate all of your concerns (especially regarding any ISO > 500 ), and as a bird photographer viewing your images, noting your processes, I am inspired.
It would be presumptuous to say continue to be be very clever and super critical, but there I said it.
This is the most beautiful Osprey photo I have seen to date. I can really see the “necklace” on the female. Thank you so much!
Oh. Oh. Oh. And a few more too. Incredible shot, incredible bird. And while it is the image rather than the technique which brings me back here time and time again, I love your back stories and learn from them almost every day. And some day, perhaps, I will become a photographer rather than an ogler. And if and when I do, I will have learnt a LOT from you.
Thank you.
I love your thought process. The other day I was birding near Eugene OR, and I was going through the same dilemma. I didn’t ever want to go above ISO 800, and I couldn’t drop my TC either. I came to the same conclusion that underexposure was the lesser evil. I didn’t get any great images like yours, but the lesson in techniques was fruitful. Glad you shared your thought process Ron. I love hearing your techniques. Thanks for the great post, as always.
All I can say is, Wow!! Thank you for sharing your strategy and the details of capturing and processing this image. I wish I could think that fast in the heat of the moment. I really like the fact that you provide the thinking behind your decisions and are also willing to share your failures as “teachable” moments. Can’t wait to see the rest of your images from this trip.
The Owyhees can be a tricky place to visit in the spring. I say that because although it is desert, it’s high desert. Due to the elevation there are some areas/roads that are quite often impassable until May, depending on the severity of the previous winter. You may have a relatively warm sunshiny day and then it starts raining & snowing with high winds for days. Even though I have been going there for years, I often make an initial exploratory trip in my truck before I take a trailer in for the first time, just to make sure I can get in to certain areas, and get out.
The roads (roads by definition only) are often terrible, especially for a trailer. There is a saying that goes: What is the best way to see the Owyhees? In someone else’s truck!
The remoteness can be both a blessing and a curse. Don’t count on having cell service.
Going back in a few days to photo burrowing owls, and owlets.
Nail-It!!!!! Nice work my friend!
Tim
Thanks very much, Tim.
I always enjoy your photographs and certainly welcome the back stories. Your related experiences, problems, concerns, etc., along with photos have helped me become a better photographer (at least I think so).
Gary, Your feedback regarding “experiences, problems, concerns, etc” was valuable to me. I never know for sure whether or not that approach is of interest to many of my readers so I appreciate you letting me know. Thank you.
Ron, your photos give me something to aspire too and I believe your backstories are an integral part of that process.
Example: I built a lens caddy and use a ‘noodle’ thanks to you. Just got back from camping in the Owyhee desert and got some incredible shots of sage grouse on their lek, using both tools.
Gary, this comment tickled me pink! I’m so glad you built the caddy and use the noodle and like them as well as I do mine.
I’ve been intrigued by the Owyhee desert for many years – actually since first reading about it back in the early 80′s during the Claude Dallas murder fiasco. I’ve been meaning to visit it during spring for many years but haven’t yet made it. A close friend from Idaho who was very familiar with the area was going to introduce me to it but sadly he passed away last year before it could happen.
Thanks so much for this comment.
Thanks for sharing these pictures Ron.
It’s not always the case that I take a sharp intake of breath when seeing photos, ..but the one of the Osprey did just that.
Jaw to the floor in astonishment. You must be really delighted with it.
Well done!
Cheers
Paul
Thanks so much for the glowing comment, Paul. Given your artistic expertise it pleases me all the more.
The dark sky background is very dramatic …I especially like the intensity in the eyes. This is my idea of an angel.
Thank you, Patty. Actually the background is a dark mountain but it certainly looks like a foreboding sky.
Incredible Imagery Ron ! And thank you once again for sharing and explaining your process. Can’t wait to see the other Osprey compositions.
I’m glad you appreciated hearing about the “process”, John. Thanks.
Very interesting! Boy! What a wonderful technique, you nailed her Ron! Thanks for sharing a very interesting approach to abysmal conditions!
Thanks, Charlotte. Yes, the conditions were awful. It was actually much darker than it appears in the image.
Fabulous Shots Ron! As for the female Osprey – she’s an angel!
Thanks very much, Nancy. Yes, that is somewhat of an “angelic” pose, isn’t it?
Thank you, Dick. I use Photoshop CS6 and adjust exposure on the RAW file before conversion. I would never attempt this much exposure adjustment on a JPEG.
Don’t get me wrong – proper exposure in camera is still the best way to go, by far. But in a situation like this where there’s no other practical way (that I know of) to increase shutter speed sufficiently, underexposure can be another tool in the toolbox. You also have to watch carefully for an unwanted increase in color noise when you do it.
Thanks for the info Ron. Well, I guess many use Photoshop. I originally bought Aperture since I’m a MAC user, and liked it for keeping track of all my images, allowing me to crop without losing the original. Bought Elements, but just have a problem (ethical?) with what the software can do with an image, thus haven’t taken the time to learn how to use it. Always felt that I would rather be outside shooting than inside manipulating. However, what you did with the Osprey is certainly within my bounds of what a photographer can do with a photograph so I thank you for opening that door. Now I just have to hope I’m not too old to learn new tricks!! LOL
My compliments on two great shots!!
Beautiful colors on the first one, what a great place this must be!!
Well, you have started to open a door for me, under expose than fix it PP.
I have always, unless the shot is my only example of the plant or critter I have, tossed images that were under exposed or over exposed, blurry, unless I wanted the blur. I have always tried to get the best shot I can under the circumstances. Do I keep marginal shots, sure, but only because I’m too lazy to go through the multitude of images and cull.
Your image of the Osprey is sooooo good, and you PP the shot, I now have to re-evaluate what I’m doing!!
Do you mind saying what PP software you are using?