Osprey in B&W

[ArthurDent]

The sky was almost pure white, the bird much darker. The histogram shows three distinct narrow fingers ofblue, green and red, none of which overlapped. The only way I could see to save the image was to convert it to a B&W, which I did.  I think it’s ok, but I'd prefer to see it in color, just don't know how to do that effectively in LR given my difficult exposure. Suggestions appreciated. I've got about 900 shots pretty much just like this one which I'd like to rescue.

[ArthurDent]

Info on the osprey:
http://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/profiles/birds/raptors-and-vultures/osprey/

[Seapy]

Thanks for the info Arthur, we have a nesting pair not far from me which I pass whenever I go to Lancaster.

https://www.cumbriawildlifetrust.org.uk/wildlife/cams/osprey-cam

If you can't get the cam to start, refresh the screen.  They seem to  have a small bug in the system.

As for your processing issue, I would try the channel mixer controls or Hue and Saturation in Ps, not sure if that's possible in Lr.  I'm no expert but that's where I would start, you can see the histogram moving and mixing the colours in H&S.  If they are NEF's you may stand a better chance.

[Ann]

Arthur:
If you would like to post a link to a downloadable NEF, I would be happy to take a shot at rescuing it for you.

[ArthurDent]

Arthur:
If you would like to post a link to a downloadable NEF, I would be happy to take a shot at rescuing it for you.

Thank you, Ann. I'd like to take you up on your kind offer. I'm not sure how to post the link to a downloadable NEF. Do I need an account with a photo sharing service to do that? Could I just copy the file and e-mail it to you?
Thanks again for your assistance!

[Ann]

Dropbox is probably the easiest way to do this.

I have sent you details in a PM

[ArthurDent]

On Sunday, I went back to the spot where I found the birds on Saturday and took some more shots (about 1400 or so) . There were almost always 3 or 4 birds above the water, so it only took me an hour or so to get the shots. Unlike the previous day, the sky was blue. I added 1-1/3 stops of exposure compensation, which was really too much, but they did come out better than the previous day's shots.

[ArthurDent]

Another one.

[ArthurDent]

One more.

[Ann]

The meter was probably reading the whole scene but the Osprey's underbody is in shadow so the increased exposure would have helped.

Spot metering is often a better choice in these circumstances.

[ArthurDent]

The meter was probably reading the whole scene but the Osprey's underbody is in shadow so the increased exposure would have helped.

Spot metering is often a better choice in these circumstances.

Thank you, that confirms my thought. I shot these using the smallest (6mm) spot on the theory my previous shots using the 8mm spot were including too much of the background. I really appreciate your comments, they are moving me along in my journey to become a better photographer. 

I'm going back tomorrow to reshoot the birds using less compensation (if the light seems to be the same) to see if I can get a higher percentage of keepers.

[Seapy]

One suggestion, mainly to find the right exposure, is to bracket with rapid shutter release and check the histogram.  I look at the histogram more than the image.

Once you have the right exposure settings then you can stop the bracketing, although it can be good insurance, the birds often don't rapid shutter noise.  No way you can HDR BIF!

I wouldn't mind betting you could set the exposure by photographing the underside of your hand held against the sky, it's the same lighting as the underside of the bird.

What are the chances of catching the Ospreys diving into the water to catch fish?

[MFloyd]

Dropbox is probably the easiest way to do this.

I have sent you details in a PM

I’m using WeTransfer https://wetransfer.com With the free version you can forward (batches of) images up to 2Gb. The restraint with the free version is the time limited availability of the link i.e. one week.

[Akira]

I don't shoot birds, but, after I had returned to D750 a coupe of months ago, I found the Active D-Lighting (ADL) very useful.  It also make the shadow recovery easier and more possible in the very difficult and contrasty situations.

Since I had found its merit, I've left the ADL set to "auto".  I believe it also help such a BIF shooting that should tend to face with the strongly backlit situation.

FWIW, I always set the Picture Control to "flat" in order to the widest possible dynamic range.  Combining "Flat" and "ADL auto" settings, I can recover as much shadow and highlight details as possible.

[ArthurDent]

I don't shoot birds, but, after I had returned to D750 a coupe of months ago, I found the Active D-Lighting (ADL) very useful.  It also make the shadow recovery easier and more possible in the very difficult and contrasty situations.

Since I had found its merit, I've left the ADL set to "auto".  I believe it also help such a BIF shooting that should tend to face with the strongly backlit situation.

FWIW, I always set the Picture Control to "flat" in order to the widest possible dynamic range.  Combining "Flat" and "ADL auto" settings, I can recover as much shadow and highlight details as possible.

Thank you for the information and suggestions. If I am shooting NEFs, will the picture control selected affect the dynamic range captured by the camera? I’m going to try it today and then add in normal ADL to see if there is a noticeable effect. I’m not satisfied with the level of detail I’m getting in my BIF photos.