Great Horned w/ REPOST

Gallery: AvianPosted April 15, 2011180 views11 comments

Going through some older shots, I came across this owl from a couple of years ago. Shot in the shade, I tried to make the best of the lightless situation, not sure if it works. Comments / suggestions greatly appreciated.

Chatfield SP, Colorado
05/16/09 - 5:39 PM

Sony A200
Sony 75-300 @ 300mm
1/100 sec @ f5.6
iso 400

Comments

11 comments

Comment posted by Wayne Willison on April 15, 2011 at 2:33 PM

Exposure looks spot on to me. Good detail and color. The tufts and eyes really make this stand out. Shooting in shade sometimes has the advantage of producing excellent overall tones as is the case here. Like the perch and bg, too.

Registered on April 10, 2009, 292 Posts, 3967 Comments

Comment posted by Michael Pancier on April 15, 2011 at 2:52 PM

you lucked out not having a contrasty background. I'd brighten the owl just a tad.

Registered on October 19, 2007, 36 Posts, 56 Comments

Comment posted by Tina Schell on April 15, 2011 at 4:50 PM

More importantly, I think a good photo is technically perfect, but a great photo also evokes the viewer's emotion. The expression on this owl definitely grabbed mine!! Good get

Registered on October 22, 2010, 26 Posts, 34 Comments

Comment posted by Rick Cloran on April 15, 2011 at 4:54 PM

Guy, nice pose and comp. The BG is well balanced. I'd give it some additional fill on the owl. It should be brighter tonally than the BG.

Registered on April 6, 2004, 119 Posts, 1989 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on April 15, 2011 at 5:40 PM

Works for me as posted Guy.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments

Comment posted by John Launstein on April 15, 2011 at 7:48 PM

I really like this shot, Guy! Great pose and look from the owl, and nice overall colours and mood.

I do like the image as presented, but probably lean toward brightening the owl as others have suggested. I'd probably play with a few techniques on how to go about doing that, including fill or parametric curves in ACR and selective dodging, but I'm sure you have your favourite approach and that's probably the place to start!

In any event, this is a great shot and I envy it for several reasons, not the least of which is your angle (camera to owl ratio)! I haven't been as fortunate in my owl shots!

Nicely done...

Registered on April 5, 2011, 223 Posts, 1193 Comments

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on April 15, 2011 at 9:05 PM

Guy,

I like the pose of the owl and the direct stare you seem to be getting from it. The background works nicely here. I agree with others about brightening this up a little and I might add a little more selective sharpening to bring out more detail. I also find myself wishing there was a bit more room at the bottom of the frame for the part of the tail we can't see for balance.

Registered on June 25, 2007, 491 Posts, 12566 Comments

Comment posted by Murali Santhanam on April 16, 2011 at 2:09 PM

Beautiful menacing looks.

Registered on July 31, 2008, 43 Posts, 331 Comments

Comment posted by Guy Runco on April 16, 2011 at 2:25 PM

Thanks for the comments everyone - here's a repost with some attention given to the brightness of the owl as well as a bit more sharpening added. Any better?

Mia - I would much rather have the tail feathers in the photo, but the branch is nearly completely obscuring them as well as adding a mess to the bottom of the shot, so I chose to keep the crop. Thanks for the suggestion!

Registered on September 9, 2008, 77 Posts, 705 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Canuel on April 16, 2011 at 4:22 PM

One of my favorite subjects. Nice job on getting the ear tufts in this position and the nice mottled BG. Not much white in this one's chest compared with others I've seen. I'm not seeing much difference in the repost but the OP looks good and accurate for the shooting conditions to me.

Registered on September 12, 2010, 53 Posts, 660 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on April 17, 2011 at 4:33 AM

A simple and beautiful horned owl photo Guy! So nice to get such a clean view. The repost is better IMO

Ken Archer

Registered on October 28, 2004, 222 Posts, 6683 Comments