Putting on His Socks

Gallery: AvianPosted March 17, 201490 views8 comments

Well, at least that's how I probably look trying to do it-and I have hands! When I was putting my website together earlier this year, I looked at the images from our Snowy Owl irruption of 2011-2012 and realized I hadn't processed anything from this sequence. While it managed to keep the eye hidden in every single image, I thought the pose made up for it. It was a very windy day on Damon Point and this bird was having a time keeping his balance while it cleaned between its toes.

1Div, 500mm f4 ISL + 1.4TC. Jobu head on Gitzo legs, f7.1, 1/1000, iso 400, manual exposure. Processed in LR5 & CS6. Cropped to 8.1MP (50%). Taken on January 11th, 2012 at 10:45 am.

Your comments and criticisms are always appreciated.

Thanks for looking,

Comments

8 comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on March 18, 2014 at 4:13 AM

Unusual pose, for sure!
Nice detail throughout and clear BG,
The heavy black border seems a little overwhelming - how about a thinner , light brown one?
Sandy

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on March 18, 2014 at 10:14 AM

I agree Dennis, this cool pose makes up for the loss of good eye contact.
I like it, well done!

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments

Comment posted by Rick Cloran on March 18, 2014 at 1:40 PM

Are you sure he isn't taking a bow for something?

Pose is strong and makes up for not having the eye. The whites in the very top of the head seem a bit on the edge, but all of the other areas are excellent. I think I'd try darkening the sky to see how it looks.

Duplicate the BG layer and then select the sky with the magic wand or color range and use that selection to drop a mask on the copy layer to block it out on the owl and branch. Next change the blend to Multiply. Now drag the multiply layer down and create a copy of it. Do the same thing again (so you will have three multiply layers all of which are masked.) I think you'll like the results.

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

Comment posted by Robert Bunch on March 18, 2014 at 2:03 PM

A different and Interesting pose and behavior. The whites all look good to the eye on my monitor. The "missing eye" doesn't bother me as you wouldn't expect it in a pose like this. Overall a nice shot.

Registered on May 18, 2004, 124 Posts, 2503 Comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on March 18, 2014 at 9:41 PM

Definitely looks like he's taking a bow to me Dennis. Grreat job on the exposure and nice clean BG.

Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments

Comment posted by Hans Overduin on March 19, 2014 at 5:49 AM

Interesting pose and glad you decided to post it. Interesting behavior

, Cheers, Hans

Registered on August 31, 2011, 491 Posts, 3807 Comments

Comment posted by David Haynes on March 19, 2014 at 10:19 AM

The title got me interested in this one Dennis. Definitely a balancing act for sure. Good exposure and neat behavioral shot. Did it just finish a meal? Larger image shows good clarity and detail Lucky you for the irruption you had a couple of years ago.

Registered on February 20, 2010, 110 Posts, 1511 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on March 19, 2014 at 9:26 PM

A cool and different Snowy image Dennis, neat pose

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