That's close enough!

[Steve Kaluski]

The majority of us work within 'comfort zones' of our subjects and often this can vary depend on that subject, however sometimes the subject hash't read the guidelines, especially if they are new to this world.

Mum & Dad were busy foraging in the tall grass of the meadow, going back and forth to the Willow tree where Junior and 'little Junior' would patiently wait, albeit hissing and making demanding noises of 'I want to be fed, NOW! Suddenly and without any provocation and still finding their wings, Junior took off, landing yards from the blind. With limit angle and 'flying by the seat of my pants' all I could do was patiently wait for blades of grass to not obstruct the POV/face and with the shutter going off every now & then, hope 'Junior ' would look to camera, but with no time to change and remove the convertor I was steadily running out of distance and within inches he would have been OOF and right on the limit.

Even at f/8 the eyes are sharp, the beak is soft, probably f/16 at 6400 may have helped? :Whoa!:

Thanks to those who viewed or posted a comment on the previous thread.

Steve

Subject: Little Owlet (Athene noctua) head on, in tall grass
Location: UK
Camera: Canon 1DX
Lens: 500mmf/4 MKII plus 1.4MKIII Ext Gitzo/Uniqball head
Exposure: 1/2000s at f/8 ISO3200
Original format: Portrait, cropped from the foot upwards for presentation
Processed: LRCC 2015 & PSCC 2015

Note: The subject is fully wild and completely unconstrained. Besides the potential impact of my presence, nothing has been done to intentionally alter or affect the ongoing behavior of the subject and, of course, there has been no use of any form of bait or other form of wildlife attractants (including vocalisations) in the capture of this image.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi STeve,
that was close , wonder that it was not too close for junior , maybe he wants to adopt YOU as a feeding source , LOL.
Great techs as always and i like all the subtle tones and colors , i am fine with the FG mush , sometimes it helps other times not . all very subjective to the viewers eyes .
Love the great eyes !!!!, i might be tempted to give the eyes tiny bit of extra kick , they can look a bit more glossy from my POV even if light seemed to be flat .
And another tip from my side ......... push that cam to 6400 and f 16 , it can stand it easily ..... someone told me , LOL.

Another very nice frame of your little Owls .

TFS Andreas

[Steve Kaluski]

Love the great eyes !!!!, i might be tempted to give the eyes tiny bit of extra kick , they can look a bit more glossy from my POV even if light seemed to be flat .

Yep, indeed Andreas, flat due to the light, drop me a line about the 'extra kick', I'll pick it up.

No need to push, unless you have too, just thought 'again' the DoF was enough, but this really was just, oh so quick, heart racing as Junior really had no fear, which was a great feeling to know & share. Goes to show, respect, patience and good fieldcraft pays off, no need to crowd the subject, or sit on top of it, as they, at some point will come to you, but on their terms, as you know.

Cheers
Steve :cheers:

[Karl Egressy]

Nice looking juvi and a nice portrait. Sometimes the glass is too much to get the desired DOF. It is still and excellent portrait, Steve.

[dennis greenwood]

As already said ,a bit flat , maybe try and get them in some good light the juvenile's at this time of the year are very obliging ,in fact the little owl as got to be one of the most easiest of owls to get close to ,I can get within feet of them without any issues ,in fact sometimes I have to make noise so I can leave the hide ,its movement with little owls ,you can clap your hands and they wont budge but you move that lens and they will notice that ,so don't worry about attempting to take of a converter as they usually return ,just trying to help as they are good and easy subjects to photograph...also a good tip ,if you find were a certain bird roosts or sunbathes a lot ,visit without a camera for a few days and walk toward them to the point were you see he's giving you the eye, turn around and let him see you leave do that for a few days ,then go in with a perch ,place it were it suits for light and background walk out then watch him land on it when you leave ,next time go wit hide and pace your perch ,I bet within a couple of days you will get him on that perch , not trying to teach you how to photograph just trying to give you some tips on the behaviour of the birds that could help....

[Loi Nguyen]

Steve, your techs are always first class. DOF looks good to me and the details of the feathers on the head are fantastic. You need to come over to this side of the Atlantic for better light! Yes, would love to see this at F16. Loi

[keith mitchell]

Steve once again you have got the colour of this Little Owl spot on, feather texture is great with lots of detail and a soft look to it which of course is how they are as you well know from your time spent with your Owls, don't have any problems with the eyes, top work as usual.

Birmingham hospital today so no involvement for a while.

Cheers Keith.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Steve, I really like this 'in your face' stare, and excellent focus on the head and eyes - My what large eyes you have. I do like how the little guy is blending into the FG foliage.

[haseeb badar]

Hi Steve -- I liked this a lot ! superb frame it is , the owlet appearing from the FG is what i liked the most apart from excellent details and the eye contact . TFS !

[arash_hazeghi]

very nice Steve, like the eye contact. they are a bit like our Burrowing Owls here . I like the natural "vignetting" induced by the FG vegetation

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

THe FG OOF stuff just reminds me of some of Andy Rouse's work.
Very beautiful eye contact and framing. I only wish to see the bill sharper, if possible.
This image is really well executed in my book.
Thanks for sharing mate.

[Satish Ranadive]

Excellent portrait.

Regards,
Satish.