Need help/advice...

[Bobobird]

This shot of a great gray owl was taken in Feb 2014. I like it very much and over the year have tried to make it pop but each version appears lacking somehow. Maybe my expectations are too high or it could be something else. I do have a tendency to not see the obvious.

The attached is an almost straight out of camera copy with nothing much done except the normal ACR tweaks, noise removal and some sharpening.

Please tell me what is missing, what can/should be done to improve it or any other thoughts about processing that you may have.

1/2500, f6.3, ISO 3200, 560mm.

Thanks.

[Shadowman]

I think playing with the background would add to the image, place some streaks or swirls to convey speed of movement. Or you could go the opposite direction and convey slow motion by applying a bit more blur to the wings so they blend in with the background.

[Wavelength]

Awesome, awesome

[Nicks Pics]

Perhaps the Obvious that you're not seeing is this: It's great! It's an amazing shot! I really like the face and the feet. If there is someone that could do something significantly better with it, I'm not sure what that would be, without changing the picture far from it's original look. Maybe just apply a little careful output sharpening to the bird, after you resize for whatever purpose. The only thing I would point out (very minor) is there is a little bright spot right above the owl's back that is a little annoying, kind of looks like a glow around the bird.

I'm just curious how did you manage to get an exposure that bright with such a very high SS in what looks to be low light? Even with that high ISO I'm surprised, did you use a flash? If so, I would think you would have the SS limitations related to the use of a flash.

[NorthernFocus]

Hi, Bobo. All I can recommend is some extensive cleanup of the BG. Remember the conventional wisdom that the eye is drawn to bright stuff. Perhaps the reason the image doesn't "pop" is because the bright areas in the background are competing with it. It would be fine if the entire BG was white or all brown, but the bright spots on darker BG draw attention. Not a thing wrong with the owl itself. If it were my image all I'd work on is the BG. Particularly the angular bright stripe right above the bird and the four bright spots left, right, and bottom of frame. To my eye those distinct bright spots are much more distracting than overall brightness.

[ClaudioG]

hi Bobo...i have to agree with Dan, although i have no exp in BIF... this is SERIOUSLY an AWESONE image. Just the bg distracts me little more than i'd like on the left hand side.. just and opinion..but instead of playing with BG...have u tried cropping? i viewed your image full screen and then still zoomed in again and suddenly the image seriously came alive. Please be aware, im not saying its not already ALIVE...im just saying viewed closer it really POPS. i think zoomed in, the eyes really take priority... and for me...thast what really works for this bird???? its not about the BG its about the bird..and you have sharpness spot on in the eyes.

I suppose im looking at your image like i look at my macro...but i would crop in...get rid of some bg...focus on eye...and put this image on my Birthday calendar month ( January) and put a short poem about owls.


Epic image...i hope you find the best solution for it and put it to use..it would be a waste to put this one away

As a side note i'd really like to see what you o with this..even my wife is interested...and she doesnt even pay attention to my photography

[Geoff F]

I think your problem lies with the bird being much the same colour as the background. If it was against a blue sky it really would 'pop'.

However, when viewed at full screen size it has far more impact than how it appears as a smaller image on this white surrounding area.

[Jill]

Congratulations, I would be so proud if I had taken this.
I can't really see how to improve it.
If I was pressed I would experiment with adding more black but you would have to be careful not to add it to the main part of the bird. Maybe a slight vignette.
It is great. Jill

[wilgk]

It is truly stunning indeed, I like the others are tending toward playing with the background rather than what is already a stunning subject.
I also think part of the appeal is ts environment, so I wouldn't want to go too much on a vignette, for e.g, whilst it would work really well, great idea, this is a wild bird in flight rather than a human portrait.
The few OOF brighter leaves, I would tone down, maybe even the background a teensy bit darker overall?
The branch running on a diagonal, that I'm wondering if it is too different from the rest of the background.
Absolutely brilliant as it is nonetheless!

[NorthernFocus]

By the way, Bobo, I forgot to mention great shot. Frankly you may be overworking it. Remove a few of the bright spots and print it LARGE. No one will see anything but the eyes anyway

[Manfred M]

Great shot Bobo; now tighten your crop and you've likely nailed it.

As others have already said; too much background.

[Mike Buckley]

When I initially saw this image, I decided not to comment because I don't fully appreciate BIF shots and assumed that, accordingly, I wouldn't know the best way to bring the most out of them. Even so, I was thinking that this is an absolutely captivating image that needs very little tweaking. I'm glad to see that the others agree.

For me, the image appears so much differently when viewing its largest size than when viewing the smallest size. That's because I don't change my distance from the monitor when doing so. (I assume nobody changes the viewing distance.) So, when viewing the smaller size, the background has more impact, which will also happen when viewing a print from farther away. Once you tweak the background to be less distracting when viewing the smaller size, the image will also look better when displaying it larger on a monitor or viewing it closer as a print.

[Mike Buckley]

If it was mine, I wouldn't crop to eliminate some of the background; the amount of negative space is ideal for me. Instead, I would tweak the bright parts of the background.

[dje]

Top shelf as usual Bobo. It's great as is, but you could try selecting the background and reducing it's brightness and saturation.

Dave

[Brownbear]

Your owls are truly magical!

If this were mine, and how I wish it was... I would just make the yellows in the background less bright and darken/burn/heal the white streak above the owl or crop closer...

Absolutely gorgeous!

[Polar01]

Bobo went and played a little with the image, now that light spot between the owl's shoulders was driving me nuts. This is what I did in Photoshop CC, open image into raw, then opened into PS as a smart object (all my raw files open into CC as smart objects), made did a copy by way of a smart object. To the copy reopened in raw really worked the slider to create a really contrast image<OK back into CC, then using select tool selected the owl, went back into raw to return sliders to normal <OK back into CC. Then defined edge to help smooth edges then output to new layer with mask. Went back to copy layer added a little negative clarity <OK back into CC and converted smart object layer into a regular layer. Had to do that as you can not clone on a smart layer. Cloned a small area of the back ground into that light area between the owls' shoulders. Added a curves layer clipped to just the layer with the owl, resetting the black and white points, then added another curves to the back ground layer resetting the black and white points for that layer.
Now that may seem a lot, doing the selection was the longest about 6 minutes total time about ten minutes. I hope it meets with your approval. O by the way I hate you I love that shot and can only dream of getting something close.

Cheers: Allan

[Suzan J]

Hello Bobo: Sometimes when I read posts that ask for tips on editing, I will avoid reading any existing replies before formulating my own opinion. I am definitely with the crowd here as the first thing thing that struck me was the glow behind the shoulders and the muddled background. The eyes and feet are amazing and in my view, those two features really make this a potentially great shot. I like Allen's edit very much as the increased sharpness and contrast emphasize these components of the image and give it a 3D look. Blurring, or removing some of the white circles and other whitish streaks should be a fairly easy task for you. I wish I had unfinished shots like this just lying around.

[JR1]

Try a mirror image when shooting

[HaseebM]

I don't see what's missing, this shot is wonderful!

[Wavelength]

What an image; one of the best owl image, i have ever seen; can i saturate it a bit to my personal taste? please bear with me....


Regards