Ed Ford, APSA
March 2023 - Midnight Snack on the Way
About the Image(s)
hile in the Florida Everglades I took the image of an Osprey with its catch. The original was shot during the day using a 150-600 lens. The bald blue sky and the Osprey off center did not carry much interest after some cropping and conversion to monochrome I had a better image. Still the bald sky did not help. I edited the image in OnOne Photo raw, replacing the sky with a night sky and renewed the monochrome presentation choosing a blue tint to go along with my story of an Osprey headed to the nest with a midnight snack for the young.There is not much else to say. All thoughts and suggestions will be appreciated.
This round’s discussion is now closed!
11 comments posted
Trung Cang Nguyen
Hi Ed
Good action shot of the Osprey with its catch, I would love to see the detail of the fish Posted: 03/13/2023 22:00:30
Good action shot of the Osprey with its catch, I would love to see the detail of the fish Posted: 03/13/2023 22:00:30
Thanks Trung. I would very much have liked to capture the head of the fish - I had about 15 seconds to catch the image. I consider myself fortunate to have captured the eye of the Osprey though in this version it is difficult to see the eye was very prominent in the original. Posted: 03/14/2023 07:05:47
What a creative way to process the Osprey - from daylight to nighttime! I've not done anything like this so can't give any technical critique. However, I do like the impact this image has because you've put the subject in a setting (night sky) that is unusual from what we typically see and I think it works really well. Posted: 03/13/2023 23:20:46
Thank you Jeff. In the interest of full disclosure - the graphics engine in OnOne Photo Raw handled the replacement of the sky. It is astonishingly accurate and easy to do. Mine was the idea their's was the work (LOL). Posted: 03/14/2023 07:09:59
Hi Ed, I like it very much, too, although my first impression was a noble mythical bird gliding through the night sky - I bet there is a legend with a scene like this! I think that the bird and your night sky with the bright star and the white cloud-like area make a fine composition, and the blue tones are just lovely. Posted: 03/14/2023 04:14:07
Thank you Kristi. There may be a legend/myth that references something like that. I can't remember. I will say that I have always enjoyed reading fantasy and science fiction. Perhaps a piece of memory from a book read years ago sparked idea. Posted: 03/14/2023 07:12:37
Not sure if this would look better or be an improvement, but how about bringing just a hint of natural color back in to the Osprey? Just a thought. Posted: 03/14/2023 16:15:04
That is a thought Dom, thank you. I struggle with the idea of some natural color and the overall tint of the image. Perhaps if I chose straight up B&W I could. But to do so in its current form might violate the monochrome nature of the image. Something to consider. Thanks again. Posted: 03/15/2023 08:00:41
Ooops! I wasn't thinking Monochrome. Sorry. Forgot where I was. :o) Maybe for your own use or other competitions, my idea might work.
Posted: 03/15/2023 08:16:04
Posted: 03/15/2023 08:16:04
You are right, it might. What I did regret was losing the bird's eye. It is prominent in the original but disappeared in this version. Thanks again for your input. Posted: 03/15/2023 08:40:21
Can you coax a little more detail out of the bright sky in the lower left? Using the local mask I think you could bring out the eye the local mask in ON1. I would try cropping some of the bottom to lower the bird which mmmmis vertically dead center and which would remove some of the bright lower left part of the image, which upstages the bird some. all that said, this is a fine image as is. Posted: 03/25/2023 11:44:21