We have landing, wings down

[NancyMoranG]

I do not post much but am trying back button focusing. This local park has a pair of Osprey that is pretty accessible....now if I just had alittle more reach..
This was at sunset and loosing light quickly. SS 640, ISO 640-800, F 8-11. Heavy crop.
any help is appreciated on composition or pp.
thanks.

 

[DarkShadow]

Wow! Very Nice Golden hour shots.Comp looks good to me.Well done.

 

[MSnowy]

Cool! Very nice set! Hey it's not the reach lens it's the magic in it.

 

[NancyMoranG]

Shamed you into looking didn't I
Thanks for looking.
I read the book that you saw being filmed at Duxbury. Should be a heck of a movie,,thanks for the heads up!

 

[MSnowy]

Shamed you into looking didn't I
Thanks for looking.
I read the book that you saw being filmed at Duxbury. Should be a heck of a movie,,thanks for the heads up!

Ha ha no shame, I heard that it was a good book.

 

[bulldurham34]

I knocked off the orange glow on the Osprey by a bit more than 50% and alsoisolated a few random branches and knocked those values down a bit as well todraw more attention to the bird, less to his surroundings. A bit of a tighter crop and I significantly lowered the tonal value of the big branch to the left, again to keep more of the focus on the Osprey. I used the quick select tool and refine edge tool in photoshop combined with HSB layers to edit.

 

[MSnowy]

Thats a nice edit but I personally like the lighting in the original photos. The originals have the nice glow from the late afternoon sun.

 

[sm4him]

I agree with MSnowy, I like the originals--the lighting really sets a "mood." Makes it obvious that it is sunset (well, sunrise or sunset--wouldn't know which one without the OP having stated it).

The only edit I'd be tempted to make would be to clone out that one branch that sticks straight up out of the nest, through the Osprey's wing. It would take some work, but it might be worth it.

 

[NancyMoranG]

Thanks for the responses. BullDurham, thanks for playing with it.
I have PSe 11 but I don't know what to do with the photo sometimes.
I may try your suggestions as experiments.

 

[C. Brian Kerr]

Nice set. I understand more reach

 

[baturn]

I like 'em as is, my favorite being the third. Well done!

 

[SurvivalDad]

Nice Edit. I like them both ways. 3rd shot is my fav though.