Great Horned Owl

[Brownbear]

Photographed on Grouse Mountain at a Bird of Prey sanctuary. This owl landed on a tree stump in front of me and I was delighted to be so close.

The fast shutter speed is simply because I was hoping to capture a shot of these birds in flight.

I like both of these shots. Cropped a little to offset the center focus and also to eliminate the birds shoulders which could have used more DOF (aperture f/7) but I wanted to blur the background away.

SS 1/1600 f/7, ISO 800 (White balance as shot) 300 mm focal length




SS 1/2000 f/7, ISO 800 (White balance set a little warmer) 300 mm focal length



Processed in LR, sharpened and darkened selective highlights in Photoshop CC

I like these shots but I would like to know which WB is preferred, and which image and why, so I can use this feedback to learn from on my next try.

Thank you.





Thank you.

[Shadowman]

Nicely done. How was the lumberjack show?

[Brownbear]

Thank you John. I have yet to watch the Lumberjack show because I'm always hanging around waiting for the bears to come out.

Nicely done. How was the lumberjack show?

[bnnrcn]

Hi Christina I like the shots, light is better in #2.

[chauncey]

Geez Christina...you have developed a knack for fortuitous positioning combined with the knowledge/ability in putting it all to good use. Those are great images.

You must have been awfully close for F/7 not to have given sufficient DOF.
Color...you were there...which is the better.

[jprzybyla]

You're getting good, keep it up. Both are a little tight in the frame if cropped you might consider leaving a tad more room around them. That is one beautiful bird.

[NorthernFocus]

Nice shots, Christina. Both sharp as a razor and nicely exposed. In the first shot you could probably get away with lightening the shaded eye a bit without making it look unnatural. Love those yellow eyes. Nicely done.

[Otavio]

In my opinion, your best images I've seen here, Christina! You're definitely "getting good"!

Keep up the good work!

[Brownbear]

Thank you to Binnur, Chauncey, Joe, Dan and Otavio for the very encouraging words.

Binnur... Yes, the light was changing (clouds) and I think it was likely softer in the 2nd image.

Chauncey... I'm trying to figure out and learn if warmer tones are more appealing to most people. The owl was darker with clouds overhead, and warmer and lighter when lit by the sun. Yes, I was close guessing about 1 1/2 meters (5-6 feet) from the owl.

Joe... Thank you for letting me know my crops are a little tight. Very helpful feedback. I cropped these a bit to compensate for the center focus and also because the feathers on the shoulders of the bird were not as sharp. Yes, it is a beautiful bird! I have yet to find one in the wild but hope to do so one day.

Dan... Thank you. I will try that on the shadowed eye. I also love their eyes! On the sunlit eye one can see the reflection of the mountains.


Thank you to all!

[bnnrcn]

Christina, if you lighten the shadowed eye as Dan suggests, then IMO lighting won't be an issue for #1. That shadowed eye made me think that light in #1 wasn't as good as it was in #2.

Thank you to Binnur, Chauncey, Joe, Dan and Otavio for the very encouraging words.

Binnur... Yes, the light was changing (clouds) and I think it was likely softer in the 2nd image.

Chauncey... I'm trying to figure out and learn if warmer tones are more appealing to most people. The owl was darker with clouds overhead, and warmer and lighter when lit by the sun. Yes, I was close guessing about 1 1/2 meters (5-6 feet) from the owl.

Joe... Thank you for letting me know my crops are a little tight. Very helpful feedback. I cropped these a bit to compensate for the center focus and also because the feathers on the shoulders of the bird were not as sharp. Yes, it is a beautiful bird! I have yet to find one in the wild but hope to do so one day.

Dan... Thank you. I will try that on the shadowed eye. I also love their eyes! On the sunlit eye one can see the reflection of the mountains.


Thank you to all!

[Wavelength]

WOWL!!!!really awesome and stunning

[Downrigger]

Just great Christina - you do justice to these great looking creatures.

[Brownbear]

Thank you Binnur, Nandakumar and Mark.

Your comments and suggestions are truly appreciated.

Here is an edit with the shadows on the eye lightened as suggested by Dan, cropped to a lessor degree to allow more room as suggested by Joe.



Lightening the shadows truly made a difference. I agree that more room was needed for the owl but the fading depth of field (lower right hand corner) is not something I'm fond of, hence my tighter crop. But if an owl ever lands in front of me again I will be better prepared.

Thank you to all!

[bnnrcn]

Hi Christina Your last crop doesn't work for me because of the light conditions. Light is coming from the left and when you leave some space on the left, the image looks pale. Also the feathers you included on the lower right hand corner of the photo makes the image look pale. I think you first crop is better.

[ajohnw]

I don't care for the 2nd crop either. You might get away with it if you tone it down a lot, say to the same green all over as at the top.

On colour I haven't seen an owl for years but the slightly warmer one looks to give more natural colours to me - but you saw it. I didn't. On the other hand given the type of bird they are I wouldn't expect harsh colours and the warmer one softens them a little.

John
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[Brownbear]

Binnur and John - Thank you for taking the time to comment on the last crop. I also prefer the 1st for the same reasons. It's a great example of the need to pay attention to little details. Albeit challenging to do when an owl lands right in front of you. Next time around!

John - Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the warmer temperatures. Just FYI - The green is the pine forest on the mountains in the background. Truly appreciated.

Thank you to all.

[ajohnw]

Binnur and John - Thank you for taking the time to comment on the last crop. I also prefer the 1st for the same reasons. It's a great example of the need to pay attention to little details. Albeit challenging to do when an owl lands right in front of you. Next time around!

John - Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the warmer temperatures. Just FYI - The green is the pine forest on the mountains in the background. Truly appreciated.

Thank you to all.

The camera is unlikely to show what you see in that sort of situation Christina so it's hard thing to allow for. I think the In ya face shot works well anyway. It reminded me of the need to take care when owls are on the nest with chicks - best stay clear or wear a hat otherwise it's possible to obtain some really severe scratches on the top of the head. The bird looks like it would do something like that as big as we are. They do but it happened to some one next to me.

John
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[FrankMi]

Very nice captures and edits Christina! One thing you may want to look into, given your willingness to do a bit of eye retouching, is that there is a large number of very effective tutorials and videos on eye retouching available. Although these tutorials are primarily geared toward eyes in human portraiture, the principals offered are very effective for most non-human eyes as well and can dramatically improve all kinds of facial images when judiciously applied. Hope this helps!

[ajohnw]

A quick retouching tutorial if you fancy a play. All I did is loosely straight line select round the major facial features. Short straight line below the beak, straight up to a little outside the feathers radiating from the eyes, 3 straight lines round to the top of these, straight line across above the eye detail, angled line down to the "nose" feather detail stopping a bit short and then straight across to the select on the other side. Then set a blend width of 15 px. Then a smidgen of tone mapping to boost the contrast. Any sort of micro contrast type increase should do the same thing. It has the effect of making that area sharper so makes it stand out more. It's the opposite way of achieving apparent sharpness where the background is purposefully blurred just a little. Our eyes do the rest. You might need to compare side by side.



John
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[Brownbear]

Frank

Thank you.

Who knew that eyes need retouching, especially the beautiful eyes of an owl. I have googled it and found several tutorials. I have an eagle shot with a big shadow in the eye, so I will try it and see if it makes a difference.

As always, thank you for sharing.

John,

Thank you as always. Very nice edit. I can see the difference. Truly appreciated.