Great Horned Owl in Spanish Moss

[Ashleigh Scully]

Hi -

This is a photo of a Great Horned Owl high up in an oak tree near Lake Toho, FL. Jim Neiger told me about this owl and I was so excited to find it and be able to photograph it. Once I found it high up, I used my tripod to steady the shot, as it did not move from the branch. The light was hard - it was overcast, and there was alot of shade beneath the moss. For this shot I used my Canon 7d and 400mm f/5.6 lens. Here were my settings: ISO 800, 400mm, f/6.3, 1/640.

I know that the owl is soft. I also know now that I see my settings, I could've better exposed this by being at f/5.6, and lowering my shutter speed even more since the owl was not moving. I also could've used a remote cable trigger.

In post-processing, I cropped about 10% off, then adjusted levels on the body and face only. These owls have such beautiful yellow eyes it's a shame they do not come through in this picture. I don't think there's anything else I can do to fix this. I sharpened alot, too. Do you have any suggestions?

I could not get this under 250kb without shrinking the width under 800px.

I hope this owl is there next year so I can do a better job. :e3

Thank you, Ashleigh (edited by Dad)

[dankearl]

Ashley, you have a terrific setting for the Owl.
The look at you minimizes the steep angle somewhat.
The focus was on the Breast unfortunately and the head is a bit soft.
I would tone down the bright sky behind the Owl.
The comp is really good with the diagonal branch and the Spanish Moss is awesome.
You can post up to 400kb now (1200 wide x 900 high or 900 high if it is a vertical).
it would look better at the larger size.

[Loi Nguyen]

Ashley, good subject in a nice habitat. which software do you use for PP? Artie has a guide on Digital Basics that might help you. For the eye, I'd use a brush and selective brighten the yellow part of the eye. They will come thru. You may want to use Curves in PS or LR to lift the shadow a wee bit. Good luck.

[Nick Palmieri]

Nice environment and nice composition. Wish the head was a little sharper but a capture worth keeping. If you have Viveza you may be able to pull a little more color out of the eyes.

[Jim Thomas]

Super fab! Love the moss. I would definately try to tone down the brighter areas and lighten the facial disk some. Terrific capture though.

Jim

[Marina Scarr]

I think I may know this owl personally! Love how you have shrouded him in moss. Exposure on the owl looks super. Would try to burn the moss some.

[Ashleigh Scully]

Hi Marina. It's Ashleigh. Thank you for your comment. How can you tell a male owl from a female? Do you know if there is a way to tell the difference? I have always thought this was the mother because the owlets were on a branch nearby.

[Robert Holguin]

Very nice shot.
Excellent comp and I love the setting.
Agree on doing some selective sharpening on the head as it does look a tad soft.
Well done.

[Dan Brown]

Beautiful! I would brighten the eyes a tiny bit but otherwise!

[Daniel Cadieux]

Awesome setting you had here Ashleigh...the mosses are amazing! It's too bad there was a gap at left to let in some blown sky, but that is what you had. The gaze downwards by the owl helps alot to negate the steep angle, good on you to wait for that particular head angle. You could lighten the face using the dodge tool, and additionally on the eyes with the sponge tool to saturate the yellows on them. That must have been quite a memorable sighting for you!

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

I really love the setting here and the look on the owl. I do not think your exposure is bad at all I think the focal point was the problem and being at 5.6 would have made it even worse. Had the focal point been on the face , the owl would not appear as soft. At 640 on a tripod that should have been plenty of speed for no movement. So... next time you get this opportunity or one like it because with persistence you will, keep in mind the area you are focusing on. Preferably the eyes. I have learned that sharp eyes on the subject will easier excuse a soft body but not the other way around.

[jack williamson]

Great setting, I love the amount of moss in this, the composition is very good. Great advice by everyone else. You are doing very good for a young person, keep it up.

Jack

[Dan Brown]

Ashleigh, To brighten the eyes, make a new layer, change the blending mode to soft light, select the brush tool and set it's opacity to 20%, hardness to 0%, color to white. Then, zoom in on the eye, size the brush tool to the size of the yellow areas and just paint the lightness in. You can paint over the yellow several times till you are happy with the brightness. This will work on any areas that you want to brighten or darken (by selectiing black color instead of white) good luck!

[Ashleigh Scully]

Thank you everyone.

I will make some changes and repost a bigger and new version after the weekend.

thank you, Ashleigh

[Satish Ranadive]

Beautiful shot of owl.I like the pose,colors,lights and composition.Wish image was bigger.

Regards,
Satish.

[Ashleigh Scully]

Hi - this is the repost of my original posted here last week.

These are the changes I made:

Resized bigger to new minimum size
Darkened exposure on bright areas and burned the Spanish Moss. I think I overdid the bright areas - now it looks like a thunderstorm through the moss. Maybe somewhere in between this and the first one is better.
Brightened the eyes a bit and lightened the facial disk some.
Sharpened the face more.

Thanks everyone,

Ashleigh

[Dan Brown]

Hi Ashleigh. Your repost looks good! I like the work on the blown sky, it looks believable to me. I see a couple hot spots on the upper right area but the owl and the sky look good! Good work!

[Loi Nguyen]

Ashley, I like the repost. The eyes certainly look brighter in the original. You can also darken the pupil as well by painting it Black to give it more contrast. I agreed with you that the bright sky thru the moss now looks gray, so back it off a little bit may be the right answer. Good job with that 100-400mm lens. It is not the easiest lens to work with IMO. Loi