Downtown Riverways, With up-close osprey encounter. + video

[matthewo]

Yesterday was a cooler day, high around 80. I heard the water level of the Congaree River was a little lower because of the lack of rain over the past month. We still had so much rain over the summer the river is not a low as it usually is this time of year. In Columbia, we have 2 rivers, the Broad and the Saluda converge into the Congaree pretty much right in downtown. The place is popular for fishing, yet rock hopping is limited to get to a lot of locations, as well as so many rocks any motorized boat would be nearly impossible, even in my kayak I was hitting many rocks. The area is also pretty large, so you can almost be away from most people and in a decent wildlife habitat while still being in the heart of downtown Columbia. There are many large islands dense with large trees with the river running around them. My trip was to explorer the lower part, heavy rapids and deep water around them, wouldn't allow me to get to the part slightly north of Columbia on the Saluda river. I will probably put in at a different location to explorer there, as paddling miles up fast moving rocky river isn't too fun with a fishing kayak.

When I thought I wouldn't see much of anything worth getting the camera out, I spotted an osprey on a low branch about 4 feet off the water, thought to myself that is odd, then I saw the very large fish. I slowly approached and was able to get within 15-20 feet, closer than I have ever been. the photos and video tell the rest.

Skip to 3:00 in the video if you don't want to hear me talk about the location. all was recorded in 1080p with my workhorse and only body d800, so watch in HD if possible.



and the photos:
I know I posted a lot, but I took a lot cause rarely do you get to fill the frame with an osprey at eyelevel with a fish.

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

6)

7)

8)

9) up close crop.

10) just a comparison of size, fish vs osprey (who is eating who)

 

[oldhippy]

Beautiful, thank you for posting. Ed

 

[JacaRanda]

Awesome as usual. #9 takes the cake.

I really need to make use of video.

 

[sm4him]

Awesome! I'm still just impressed with your shots from a kayak--don't think I'm steady enough for that.

That looks like a juvi, which might further explain why it was down so low. A lot of the juveniles I've seen, even once they start catching fish, they sometimes have a hard time getting much lift once they've got the fish in their clutch--particularly a nice, big fish like that one. So they tend to stay lower with it than an adult might.

I've been fortunate enough to have some similar opportunities with Osprey that were closer than I ever believed you could get--it is such a thrilling experience! They really are magnificent birds.

 

[Aloicious]

#1 is my fav, great shots!

edit- I need to send you a PM, got a question for you...

 

[matthewo]

The 70-200 is easier from a kayak than the 500, but usually photos are no problem. Video was kind of a different story...

Was handheld. My video equipment is minimalistic which not sure how much more i would put in a small kayak anyways.

D800, 24-85mm for wide stuff, 70-200+1.4, rode stereo video mic, swivi viewfinder loupe sometimes

 

[GDHLEWIS]

1st one is amazing!

 

[coastalconn]

Great job Matt!! Very very cool! Did you find it really hard to keep the whites from blowing on the very top of there heads?

 

[matthewo]

Great job Matt!! Very very cool! Did you find it really hard to keep the whites from blowing on the very top of there heads?

Thanks, yes the sun was very bright on him, i did my best but still a few spots are a little hotter than i would have liked. The shiny fish belly are tough as well

 

[shefjr]

WOW!!!
These all shot with your 500mm?

 

[Woodsman]

Stunning pictures

 

[matthewo]

WOW!!!
These all shot with your 500mm?

No actually i only brought my 70-200 and 1.4x converter, so 280mm and even had to zoom out sometimes. That's on full frame as well, did i say i was close. Lol

I had my fishing stuff, as well as just a scouting trip so i packed a little lighter

 

[coastalconn]

Great job Matt!! Very very cool! Did you find it really hard to keep the whites from blowing on the very top of there heads?

Thanks, yes the sun was very bright on him, i did my best but still a few spots are a little hotter than i would have liked. The shiny fish belly are tough as well

I'm sure you know this, but have you used the brush in LR? I recently discovered how to use it and found that it really helps on the hot spots. I leave everything at 0 then make highlights -50ish and paint the white areas with it. I was shocked how much detail it brought out that I thought was gone...

 

[Aloicious]

I'm sure you know this, but have you used the brush in LR? I recently discovered how to use it and found that it really helps on the hot spots. I leave everything at 0 then make highlights -50ish and paint the white areas with it. I was shocked how much detail it brought out that I thought was gone...

what's that brush called? I haven't used lightroom before (just full PS), but this sounds similar to the burn brush, except in PS its a percentage of exposure you're adjusting (i.e. lowering exposure or a specified tonal range X% each pass)...

 

[matthewo]

I dont use LR much anymore, unless doing shoots where i know i need to produce more than 10 or so photos, so most of my day wildlife outings i will just edit individually.

I usually will use dodge or burn in ps, personally i love camera raw as well, every similar to lightroom, yet once i get done in photo raw and open in photoshop i can do a few other things i like to do depending on what the photo needs.

Selective sharpening as well as selective NR in small amounts can be very helpful on high iso images. I also use topaz clean in very small amounts to give a photo a little "pop" and a little bit of sharpening as well as NR

Cant give all my tricks, lol, but that is most of them