as I’ve learned to avoid changing lenses
in the field. The time involved to change
a lens could result in a missed shot. This
approach also helps avoid the possibility
of getting dust or moisture on the camera’s
focal plane sensor.
When setting up, I take test shots and
check the histogram to make sure there’s
no clipping of the lights or darks. To ensure
that the bird’s head isn’t overexposed, I
zoom in on my camera’s LCD to check
for head detail. In changing light condi-
tions, judgment is often necessary to make
on-the-fly adjustment of settings. Depend-
ing on conditions, I’ve employed exposure
compensation values from minus 2 to plus
2 stops. While some “fixing” can be pos-
sible later with processing, don’t count on
it. Get it right in the camera.
When choosing the lens length, be sure
to leave space around “bird in flight” situ-
ations as it’s better to crop some later than
clip the bird’s wing. My rule of thumb is
that the sitting bird should only take up
one-third to one-quarter of the frame height
in the viewfinder. This may seem like too
much room, and perhaps it is if you desire
only a sitting portrait, but I’ve found an
osprey launching for prey can fill up the
empty area pretty quickly.
The osprey might be diving 100 yards
distant or as close as only 20 yards away.
Their dives will be from the sky or a tree
perch along the river. I listen for their chirp-
ing to locate them as they’ll often vocalize
before they dive. Given that their diving
speed is up to 60 mph and the background
along the river is cluttered with trees, I find
it helpful to use back button focus to lock
on to the bird before it dives. I typically
shoot in shutter priority with a shutter speed
of at least 1/2500 sec. to “stop” the action.
Also, I use Auto ISO to compensate for
the changing light conditions from the sky.
Depending on the scene’s brightness, a neg-
ative exposure compensation of -1 stop is
typically warranted to avoid overexposing
the osprey’s white head and feathers.
While I’ve invested in top-of-the-line
camera equipment, I’ve seen excellent shots
taken with a range of cameras and lenses
from 100mm to 400mm. A 150-600mm
telephoto zoom is a popular lens that I often
see in the field. So, don’t think that only
the “pros” or those with super-telephoto
primes can be successful photographing
ospreys fishing.
If you’d like to try your hand atphotographing osprey, some planning is
required. The alewife run is in the May
and June time frame, but the exact timing
varies from year to year. A web search will
yield status reports to aid in your planning.
One of my favorite places to visit is
the Damariscotta Mills Fish Ladder. Two
other popular shooting places are on the
Saint George River in Warren, Maine,
at Payson Park; and downtown, east of
the bridge on Main Street. Also, I’ve had
good luck just driving around and looking
for ospreys in the air. I’ve found them
on small streams and narrow inlets in
addition to the major rivers. It’s a great
adventure, and I wish you good shooting
if you decide to go. OPSee more of Howard Arndt’s work at
howardarndtphoto.com.This osprey is off with a “twofer”
after striking a dense group of
alewives on their spawning run.
Canon EOS-1D X Mark II, Canon EF
200-400mm f/4L IS USM Extender
1.4x at 560mm. Exposure: 1/2500,
ƒ/5.6, ISO 10000.outdoorphotographer.com April 2020 53