Burrowing Owl Chick Testing Its Wings

[Melissa Groo]

Canon 1D4
500mm +1.4x
Gitzo/Wimberley

ISO 1000
1/3200
f/5.6

Took this last spring in Cape Coral, Florida. Had to do some wing tip repair on the chick's left wing as I cut the tip off. So added canvas on the right. Curves, NR, sharpening. Lightened eye area a little bit.
Some people may not like the fact that it's not looking at the camera, but I liked that it was intent on what it was doing--trying out its wings---and wasn't bothered by my presence. I also liked the view of the developing pin feathers.
Thanks very much in advance for all comments and critiques.

[Randy Stout]

Melissa:

Nice story telling image, good job on wingtip rebuild, gaze ok with me, but might add even a bit more room on the right.

Nice colors, springtime feel.

Very subtle smudge/line in the extreme LU corner, probably natural, but I would very lightly clone over it.

Cheers

Randy

[Sidharth Kodikal]

A very, very lovely image, Melissa. The light is great and I love that shade of green in the fb/bg. I love the "playful" pose and how engrossed the bird is in learning this new skill.
Excellent techs as usual. I thoroughly enjoyed this image, TFS.

[stuart wanuck]

like it nice flight image

[nrohrbacker]

The left leg seems a bit connected to the ground via the plants, otherwise, I like the image. The colors are great, nice and sharp and you seem to have done an excellent wing repair!

[Marina Scarr]

Glad to see you captured the owlet jumping. I love the inclusion of the wildflowers and seeing those talons exposed. HA doesn't bother me a bit. There's a green cast to the overall image which you'll see when you play with the magenta/green slider.

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Melissa,

This is genuinely my favorite image of a Burrowing Owl. I've visited Cape Coral on many occasions, but I've yet to see (let alone capture) something like this. The timing is spot on, the detail is all there.

I do agree with Marina regarding the green/yellow cast. A little more room to the right, as Randy mentioned, would be beneficial. Great job on recreating the wing tip too.

Miguel

[jack williamson]

This is just great everywhere. Sharp and a fine wingtip repair. There is just enough sharp vegetation. Well done.

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Melissa. A wonderful moment captured and I like that the bird is not looking at the camera! Nice job on the wing. I would agree about the slight greenish cast and more room on the right would be a plus. A couple tweaks will really put this one over the top!

[David Salem]

Great job on this one Melissa. Smart of you to crank up the ISO to get that faster shutter speed. Love the pose and the HA is a non issue for me, your capturing a moment. The BG with the wild flowers is beautiful. Techs are right on and the shot is very sharp.
I have taken literally thousands of shots of Burrowing owls and I would be tickled to have this in my files. Very nice!!

[Don Nelson]

Excellent capture of this bird, and very interesting story.
Not common out here in the Pacific NW, and certainly not with the nice green background (usually brown west of the Cascades).
I like the pose on this bird, and no need to have it facing the viewer.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Super image, love the pose, I see a yellow cast. The composition is good as are the lovely flowers beneath the chick. This is a very pleasing image and I could imagine this would make a lovely print.
The wing tip was repaired well, but now you mentioned it I can see the join which can easily be fixed using refine edge and or with some fine patching.

[Shawn Zierman]

Light quality: Really good!
Action: Even better.
Composition: Very nice, particularly considering what you accomplished in post. I agree with the
suggestion of having more space on the right hand side, and actually, at the time of capture, I
would love to have seen what you would have come up with here without the 1.4 on.
Really dig the fg flowers/plants.

[vishaljadhav]

Lovely image, i envy you folks getting owls in light
the action is so perfectly captured here, the greens compliment it perfectly and your shooting angle makes it more super

[Loi Nguyen]

Melissa, this is just a fantastic picture of a young owl. We don't see them often. Love the concentration of the chick testing its wing and not bother by the head angle as this is a behavior shot. The flowers in the ground made a lovely foreground and live the soft BG. Well done.

[Grace Scalzo]

Follow the chick's gaze down to the plants and you'll see evidence of your repair, easy to fix on a deserving image such as this one. The action is sweet.

[Karl Egressy]

Great moment beautifully captured, Melissa.

[Melissa Groo]

Thanks everyone. Here is a rework adding more canvas to the right, fixing green cast, and taking out areas that looked a bit suspect.

[Satish Ranadive]

Very very sweet image.

Regards,
Satish.

[gail bisson]

The repost looks terrific. When I saw the OP I noticed the yellow/green cast immediately so am glad you fixed that.
The flowers look great and all PP work is evidence free!
Gail

[Doug Brown]

You couldn't ask for a nicer setting and the light is great! I know that most everyone so far hasn't minded the head angle, but it does detract IMO. Nice job with the PS work!

[Frank Schauf]

Excellent detail and flying pose, nice colors.

[MohsenVahedipour]

Excellent flight pose Mellisa, Lovely setting & wonderful colors in BG & FG. TFS