Movement

Gallery: AvianPosted July 27, 2011217 views14 comments

Hi all! I finally had a chance to go through my images from Jenaya and my recent evening photographing three Great Grey Owls in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies. Wow, did we ever have some cooperative subjects that night! I had a very hard (impossible) time narrowing down my favourites, but this one made it through all the cuts and is certainly ONE of my fav's from the night.

In the end, I couldn't escape the intensity of his stare and knew right away I wanted to present this as a tight crop instead of the standard bird-on-a-perch image.

As you can see, something moved in the grass below the fence post he was perched on, and he zeroed right in on it, absolutely oblivious to my daughters and myself as we tested the true speed of our motor drives! ;)

In fact, he held this pose (or more accurately, the critter moving in the grass held his attention) long enough for me to change settings on the camera! I was shooting tripod-mounted, mirror-up with a release at ISO 400, but decided I would shoot a few at a much higher ISO just for insurance and to see what I liked better in the different dynamic ranges. Interestingly, I chose this image, shot at ISO 2000!

This is a horizontal crop from vertical, repressenting 64% of original width. I tried running various noise reduction techniques and really liked the results from Topaz DeNoise...it smoothed the background out completely after tweaking and had a great effect on the eye as well, but in the end I liked some of that old-fashioned "graininess" of the original and ended up masking key areas back out to preserve feather detail and then reducing the remaining NR layer to 50% opacity to let a little character back into the negative space.

One extra cool element I noticed in this image (at least cool to me): the silhouetted figure visible in the reflection in the owl's pupil is my daughter, Jenaya...busily capturing images of this beautiful Great Grey alongside me and her sister.

I'm VERY curious to receive your comments, critiques and suggestions!

With appreciation for your time and consideration...

Nikon D7000
Nikkor 300mm f/4 AF-S with TC-14EII
ISO 2000
1/400sec @ f/5.6
tripod mounted with cable release

Comments

14 comments

Comment posted by Jorne de Bruin on July 27, 2011 at 6:57 AM

Superb portrait John, I can see why this would be a favourite of yours! The look is great, the eye really pops and I really like your framing.

Registered on June 26, 2008, 178 Posts, 2136 Comments

Comment posted by denise ippolito on July 27, 2011 at 8:23 AM

Very nice profile and I like your framing. Beautiful.

Registered on December 17, 2009, 202 Posts, 1529 Comments

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on July 27, 2011 at 8:42 AM

Hi John: This is certainly a unique image of the Great Grey. Details are really nice. The really tight crop works well with your story. An image that all of would be proud to have in our portfolio!

Registered on November 20, 2003, 458 Posts, 4836 Comments

Comment posted by Philip Hodgkins on July 27, 2011 at 12:13 PM

No nits, not none!

I like what you have done and I appreciate your explanation of the processing and camera technique.

Registered on July 24, 2006, 2741 Posts, 12349 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on July 27, 2011 at 12:21 PM

A intriguing owl abstract and a very creative approach. Interesting that you do not see the beak but nice to see something different. I can see why this is one of your favorites, well done, sound like a wonderful experience with owls.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments

Comment posted by Terry Sohl on July 27, 2011 at 2:39 PM

Very cool! Unique shot, and I love the detail.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 513 Posts, 6889 Comments

Comment posted by Robert Holguin on July 27, 2011 at 10:17 PM

Excellent shot!!! Superb detail and look in its face is just amazing. Very well done.

Registered on January 25, 2011, 44 Posts, 294 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on July 27, 2011 at 10:18 PM

Excellent concept and very well executed, John. A very compelling image. I'm not sure about the graininess you re-inserted into the bg. It doesn't do much for me, but I haven't seen it smoothed out.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Julia Flanagan on July 28, 2011 at 9:26 AM

I love it John - no wonder it is a favorite! I especially like the tight crop that really does focus one on the eye. I think your compostion choice is excellent too. Some might think there is too much of the back of the head and not enough room where the bird is looking, but I think it quite the opposite. The amount one sees of the birds back of the head helps draw one to the eye and gives the perspective of a focused look. I also like that you can not see the bill at all. This a feature of owls I often find interesting - how small their bill seems in relation to their head and how flattened the front of their head is compared to other birds. This really shows that off. Finally, this makes the owl look like a bundle of fluff. And I really like bundles of fluff. Great shot! And thanks for sharing how this is family time for you and your daughters - what a great family experience!!!

Registered on November 13, 2003, 59 Posts, 986 Comments

Comment posted by Jenaya Launstein on July 28, 2011 at 1:00 PM

Awesome shot, dad! I love that stare, and you have awesome detail for ISO 2000! It was really fun hanging out with this owl and photographing him.

Registered on February 8, 2011, 254 Posts, 1302 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on July 28, 2011 at 1:22 PM

I like this a lot John, very interesting framing and portrait

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on July 28, 2011 at 6:11 PM

I really like this intimate close-up version John! Excellent detail and comp.

Ken Archer

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

Comment posted by Sharon Hallowell on July 29, 2011 at 9:37 AM

I like the unique perspective here...very different, yet so obvious. Wonderful detail...just an excellent portrait! Sharon

Registered on November 1, 2003, 392 Posts, 4810 Comments

Comment posted by Ashley Vincent on August 5, 2011 at 12:36 AM

Totally unique and engaging John, brilliant idea and very well executed, congratulations :^)

Registered on March 1, 2011, 154 Posts, 2083 Comments