Great Horned Owl

[RandyRFJP]

Brookfield Zoo; Cook County Forest Preserve District; 2017-02-12

This a zoo "Animal Ambassador" that is used in educational programs. It had a badly broken wing when the zoo received it, it cannot fly well, and cannot be let back out into the wild. The photo was taken outdoors, on a very windy day, and the owl's plumicorns ("ears") are out of focus. The owl was being held by a zookeeper, with a very distracting background, on an overcast day. I have very poor post-processing skills, and my attempt to remove the background and replace it with a sky-like background was far less than ideal.

[IzzieK]

Well...even though you knew what went wrong here, I still like the shot. I will suggest that you use the blur brush around the edges if you are using Photoshop. Been away from this laptop far too long last time when I joined another circus so the gremlins decided to steal the good EXIF widget I have here. It doesn't show me the program you used to edit this shot...

[Dave Humphries]

Hey Randy,

I could see there was a wind issue, but didn't spot the swapped bg until after I'd read the text, so your PP skills aren't too bad.

[Shadowman]

Nice capture.

[Mike Buckley]

The only thing that gave me the hint that the sky was added during post-processing is that a photo captured with that kind of sky likely would have resulted in harder shadows on the subject.

[NorthernFocus]

Beautiful bird. Nice detail on face and eyes.

[Wavelength]

Classic

[bnnrcn]

Beautiful bird Randy Are those colors real ?

[RandyRFJP]

Well...even though you knew what went wrong here, I still like the shot. I will suggest that you use the blur brush around the edges if you are using Photoshop. Been away from this laptop far too long last time when I joined another circus so the gremlins decided to steal the good EXIF widget I have here. It doesn't show me the program you used to edit this shot...

Izzie, I'm glad you like the photo. The editing was done with Photoshop Elements 9. Thanks for the tip about the blur brush.

[RandyRFJP]

Hey Randy,

I could see there was a wind issue, but didn't spot the swapped bg until after I'd read the text, so your PP skills aren't too bad.

Thanks, Dave, you're too kind regarding my PP skills.

[RandyRFJP]

Nice capture.

Thanks as always, John, for viewing my photos and for your gracious comments.

[RandyRFJP]

The only thing that gave me the hint that the sky was added during post-processing is that a photo captured with that kind of sky likely would have resulted in harder shadows on the subject.

Mike, thanks for your comment. I plan to work on my post processing skills, but when I have a choice of going out and taking new photos, or staying in and processing ones I've already taken, I always choose going out.

[RandyRFJP]

Beautiful bird. Nice detail on face and eyes.

Thanks, Dan, for viewing the photo and for your kind comment.

[RandyRFJP]

Classic

I'm glad you liked the photo, Nandakumar.

[RandyRFJP]

Beautiful bird Randy Are those colors real ?

Binnur, I appreciate your comment. I do not have a calibrated monitor, and consequently am unable to use one when I do post-processing. After I read your comment, I viewed the posted photo on 2 other monitors at work. On those monitors, the reddish-brown feathers appear to be more yellowish than I remember them to be, particularly on the owl's left side. The color of the iris of the eyes seems accurate. The zookeeper mentioned that there were several sub-species of great horned-owls, and that they differed slightly in coloration. He knew that this one is a female and that it came from a state west of Illiinois. The blueish-tint on the "ear" tuft feathers is almost certainly due to my poor post-processing skills!!!

[bnnrcn]

WOW! Then , those eyes are really beautiful

Binnur, I appreciate your comment. I do not have a calibrated monitor, and consequently am unable to use one when I do post-processing. After I read your comment, I viewed the posted photo on 2 other monitors at work. On those monitors, the reddish-brown feathers appear to be more yellowish than I remember them to be, particularly on the owl's left side. The color of the iris of the eyes seems accurate. The zookeeper mentioned that there were several sub-species of great horned-owls, and that they differed slightly in coloration. He knew that this one is a female and that it came from a state west of Illiinois. The blueish-tint on the "ear" tuft feathers is almost certainly due to my poor post-processing skills!!!

[lovelife65]

I really think this is a fantastic image, even with the blurred ears. It's beautiful ...

[RandyRFJP]

I really think this is a fantastic image, even with the blurred ears. It's beautiful ...

Thanks for your kind comment, Sharon. I'm glad you enjoyed viewing the photo.