Burrowing Owl Peek-A-Boo

[Loi Nguyen]

Another Burrowing Owl image taken at David Salem spot. I wish I had switched to F8 to get the little one in more focus, but my brain froze when I saw him peeking up from his burrow.

1DX
500f4 II +1.4X III
BLUBB Bean Bag
1/1600
f5.6
ISO400

Removed BG noise and shapened owls in CS6. I'm still learning here, so appreciate your comments and feedback especially on the PP.
Image was taken at about 11AM, but tere was a layer of cloud so light was soft.


Thank you

Loi

[Michael Rominger Jr]

The cloud covered light looks good here Loi. THe background and in focus owl look good for PP although there is a slight distraction with the single purple flower in the BG. The sharpening on the peek-a-boo owl I think has been a little overdone on the eyes it appears to me. As you mentioned a bit more DOF would have helped. He definitly adds a cute factor to the image though. Would love to capture some of these guys myself one day.

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Very cool image Loi, I like the intense stare he gave you. The OOF owl doesn't bother me.

[Doug West]

The left eye on that peek-a-boo eye is kind of freaking me out :)

Doug

[Greg Oakley]

Awesome image - love the oof bird at the bottom!
CHeers, Greg

[Jonathan Ashton]

Very nice indeed, I am not sure if a smaller aperture would have improved presentation, I rather like the OOF youngster. Good separation from the background, was the NR necessary or did you just think it would soften the background a little bit. Did you selectively sharpen the adult, if so did you include the area to the left and rightthat would have been in focus, i.e. the ground, I suspect not??

[Karl Egressy]

I was wondering if leaving the second Owl out of the frame (cloning) would have been a better idea, due to the funny looking eye. Just a thought.

[Joe Senzatimore]

Sweet image indeed. F8 would have been great , but we have all been there and know the feeling.

[Loi Nguyen]

Very nice indeed, I am not sure if a smaller aperture would have improved presentation, I rather like the OOF youngster. Good separation from the background, was the NR necessary or did you just think it would soften the background a little bit. Did you selectively sharpen the adult, if so did you include the area to the left and rightthat would have been in focus, i.e. the ground, I suspect not??

Jon, for this exercise, I used quick selection tool to put the owls in separate layers and sharpened them. I could have left the youngster OOF and not tried to fix its eyes, may be that would have been better. I will do a RP later. NR may not be necessary, but the BG is a bit clutter, so I did it anyway.

thank you everyone for your comments.

loi

[Satish Ranadive]

Beautiful image of owl with very nice expression. I like OOF owl also.If mine, would crop on RHS.
Love the pose,colors and sharpness.

Regards,
Satish.

[Raymond Lee]

Great capture! The OOF owl didn't bother me! I actually prefer this level of blurring. If the peek-a-boo owl is completely focused, it may be more distracting to the main subject.

[Loi Nguyen]

Thank you everyone for your feedback. Please see the RP with the peek-a-boo left OOF and his left eye attended by a doctor :). Hope you like it better. Loi

[vishaljadhav]

i like the RP
Owls always make interesting subjects, this one is lovely

[Troy Lim]

Repost looks good but since you already did some cloning, why not do the same for the vegetation on the ground that is in front of the OOF bird?
It would have more impact.