Nature Photographers Network
This is the preserved archive of the original Nature Photographers Network. The community continues at naturephotographers.network.
Juvi GHO Pano - WC644
‹ PreviousWeekly Challenge GalleryNext ›

Juvi GHO Pano - WC644

by John Launstein

Gallery: Weekly ChallengePosted July 26, 201488 views5 comments
Hi all! This is a pano featuring two juvenile Great Horned Owls from a farm just a mile or two down the road from us in SW Alberta.

Josiah and I have been following these two and their two siblings around as often as we can in the evenings the past month, and while I kind of wished for all four to be perched as the last moments of sunlight bathed the fields in colour, I was quite pleased with this comp and the cooperation of at least these two.

This is about 95% of full frame width, but is just under 50% of normal height to exclude the farmhouse and background trees and other potentially distracting elements.

I have already desaturated the greens appreciably and Josiah and I feel this accurately portrays the wonderful, rich colours that were so vivid as the sun slipped below the mountains to our west.

While not a full-on landscape, I love the lines of the crops in the field and of course the wonderful fence line as it follows the rolls of the land.

Hope you enjoy!

Field Notes:
Nikon D600
Nikkor AF-S 500mm f/4 IF-ED
ISO 500
1/500sec @ f/6.3
tripod mounted
cable release with live view (mirror up)

Processing Notes:
Converted from RAW using Phase One Capture One Pro 7
Minor corrections to colour and tone using Nik Color Efex Pro 4 and desaturated slightly with Nik Viveza 2 with light selective sharpening in PS5
Cropped slightly from original width and signficantly from height to create pano

Comments

5 comments
Comment posted by Mark Seaver on July 27, 2014 at 9:32 AM
Neat look at a loooonnnnnnggggg fence, enhanced wonderfully by the two owls and the surrounding greens. Yes, the lines in the field behind are a fine, subtle addition.

Man, you sure snuck this one in just under the wire (11:58 pm). :biggrin:
Registered on January 23, 2011, 1103 Posts, 17270 Comments
Comment posted by John Tobias on July 27, 2014 at 12:48 PM
Lots going on in this photo. All good IMHO! Do wish for a bit more color in the owls. Thanks for sharing.
Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments
Comment posted by Jerry Austin on July 27, 2014 at 3:22 PM
Very unique capture. There's lots of competition for the WP this go around. Good luck to all.
Registered on January 6, 2012, 651 Posts, 3448 Comments
Comment posted by Kathy Barnhart on July 29, 2014 at 6:25 PM
This is such a wonderful and unique image. I just love the lines and curves, and the owls are in such great light, so nice and sharp too. I wonderful if you considered flipping this image so that the eye travels from left to right? It is superb, as it is, but that would be the icing on the cake for me!
Registered on November 11, 2011, 404 Posts, 1639 Comments
Comment posted by Bill Fach on August 2, 2014 at 6:03 PM
John: Just a superbly crafted image. Love your DOF choice especially. Most excellent.>=))>
Registered on November 1, 2003, 1805 Posts, 26981 Comments