The Trees have Eyes

[Michael Thompson]

I got a tip for a Great Horned Owl nest with triplets, it was hard to find, so I was running out of light. I finally located them and the sun was setting perfectly with golden light shining on the tree, but the owlets were hunkered down. I decided to wait and see if they would wake up. Finally, after all the good light was gone. Mother owl showed up and started hooting from a higher branch, and they all popped up and looked around. It was a beautiful sight, but a really tough shot. I think this one is maybe good enough for a small to medium sized print, so i figured I should post it here for some feedback, thanks... Canon- 7Dll, 100-400ll at 400mm, f5.6, 800iso, 150th second, monopod, cropped and some saturation, sharpness added in Lightroom.

[Alex Becker]

Shame that you missed the perfect sunset light but waiting was more than worth it -- I really like this shot. The stares great and I like the small catchlight on each eye of each bird. The chick on the left looks like they've had enough of their siblings. At the posted size, details look nice, might be worth it to post at 1200 wide though. The perch \ nest hole is very nice. DOF appears good as well. I don't know Canon but wonder if it would have made a difference to go ISO 1600 for more shutter speed as i imagine the three of them were probably fidgeting a little. If ethics allow I would consider cloning or brushing over the sticks on the upper RHS, they aren't bad but I find them a little distracting. TFS, very jealous of this sighting.

[John Mack]

Really like this the three owls are great to bad the one on the left isn't looking straight at you.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Wow, what a cool nest! Interesting size difference in the pupils. ISO 800 is no problem for large prints with the 7DII, as is ISO 1600, unless not tack sharp or underexposed so this should be OK...

[arash_hazeghi]

very nice Michael, love the eye contact for all three and the cute fuzz on them. I'd warm the color temperate a bit, you did well working with the angle and the BG you had.

TFS

[David Salem]

Looks great Michael. I really like that we can see them well and they're mostly looking at the camera. Details look good but I do agree with maybe warming it up a little bit and definitely adding some more blacks to it before you print it via contrast or levels. Well done

[Michael Thompson]

Thanks everyone! I was concerned about it being cropped too much because it was high up, and too dark to use my 1.4xlll, but if the image quality is good enough for the experts, i'm good to go, thanks for the positive feedback!:cheers: (a quick edit. I will be refining it a bit more before printing.)

[Glenn Conlan]

Your repost is much better, this is a great capture a pano crop may be nice also? It is rare to get multiple images in good focus. Well done