Florida Burrowing Owl

[Joseph Przybyla]

I captured this image in Cape Coral, Florida. Comments and critique welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for viewing.

Nikon D500
Nikon 500mm F/5.6 VR AF-S ED PF, camera and lens supported by a Oben carbon fiber monopod with a Wimberly MonoGimbal head
1/1000 F/5.6 Matrix Metering EV 0 ISO 200 Auto 1 WB, image captured at 500mm (750mm 35mm Equivalent)
Post processed in Lightroom Classic, Photoshop CC 2021 and Neat Image for noise reduction when needed
Cropped a tiny bit from the bottom and left side

[Brian Sump]

Joe, I love this frame!

Wonderful environment. The oof daisy flowers (sure I botched that), the way the grasses frame the subject, the distant greens transitioning to pastel magenta... it all works nicely. But the icing on the cake is the second owl at right, man that's fun!

Only suggestions I have are that the whites are getting pretty hot on the oof flowers and chest plumage and parts of the eyes are 255+ in RG and B. Maybe tone down the HL with a lights multiply mask or burn mask and adj opacity as you like (one option, surely someone will say that's wrong or there are 'better' but it's up to you).

Also, maybe pull back the sharpening on the main owl cheeks as it appears a bit much. You may want to selectively sharpen the eye showing at right too.

This is one of the more memorable ones from you IMO, well done Joe.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Very appealing! Great habitat. That second bird is the icing on the cake. I agree the image feels bright in spots - I think the whole ting could come down 1/3 to 1/2 a stop or so. Do you have a bit more canvas available at right? I agree with Brian, one of your most memorable.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Joe I really like this one, love the balance of the upright owl on the LHS and the slightly hidden one on the right. Agree with Dan in dropping the overall exposure then just drop the sliders HL/White you know how to do that, plus a sliver more to the right. I would also try to get a little more separation within the colours, this will add some more 'clarity' to the scene, but I'm assuming, you were there Joe. I think the attached may help in what you had captured Joe, I hope?

TFS
Steve

[David Roach]

Love the flowers and the hidden mate for a wonderful bird in environment canvas. TFS

[Joseph Przybyla]

Hi Joe I really like this one, love the balance of the upright owl on the LHS and the slightly hidden one on the right. Agree with Dan in dropping the overall exposure then just drop the sliders HL/White you know how to do that, plus a sliver more to the right. I would also try to get a little more separation within the colours, this will add some more 'clarity' to the scene, but I'm assuming, you were there Joe. I think the attached may help in what you had captured Joe, I hope?

TFS
Steve

Hi Steve, I had another go at the image using suggestions from Brian, Dan and you. Here's what I came up with. Thank you for viewing and commenting.

P.S. How would you get more separation within the colors?

[Steve Kaluski]

P.S. How would you get more separation within the colors?

Joe, it always stems from the initial import and getting the right WB as a starting point and using the correct colour profile in Lr which you use I hope, anything else and you are falling into Lr's 'doesn't it look great' format - no it doesn't Lr!!! Also you should have seen that the Whites/HL's were blown and addressed that too. Now I have a sneaking suspicion you added Vibrance and some Saturation which has just smothered any other colours? Remember I am guessing whilst unpicking this image.

So if it's Global ie you want it across the who image then to a degree the HSL panel is quite good, but this is Global so you need to think what is it that you are changing and why, or... once you export to PSCC you can with a layer mask try Colour balance and or selective Colours using one or all four sliders, it all depends on the file and as i said what you are trying to achieve in the changes, but HSL is pretty explanatory in its titles. I do it a different way sometimes, but if I expand on this route then folk will really get their knickers in a twist because you have to be so careful and you need to have a 'vision' to what you are wanting to achieve.

Je I've just suggested a broad sweep, but it might not be required if my thoughts are correct in you applying V & S to the file.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Joe, it always stems from the initial import and getting the right WB as a starting point and using the correct colour profile in Lr which you use I hope, anything else and you are falling into Lr's 'doesn't it look great' format - no it doesn't Lr!!! Also you should have seen that the Whites/HL's were blown and addressed that too. Now I have a sneaking suspicion you added Vibrance and some Saturation which has just smothered any other colours? Remember I am guessing whilst unpicking this image.

So if it's Global ie you want it across the who image then to a degree the HSL panel is quite good, but this is Global so you need to think what is it that you are changing and why, or... once you export to PSCC you can with a layer mask try Colour balance and or selective Colours using one or all four sliders, it all depends on the file and as i said what you are trying to achieve in the changes, but HSL is pretty explanatory in its titles. I do it a different way sometimes, but if I expand on this route then folk will really get their knickers in a twist because you have to be so careful and you need to have a 'vision' to what you are wanting to achieve.

Je I've just suggested a broad sweep, but it might not be required if my thoughts are correct in you applying V & S to the file.

Hi Steve, your right I did set Vibrance to 15 and Saturation to 3. The color profile I used was Camera Neutral, the same as was set in my camera. Any suggestions?

[William Dickson]

Interesting replies....:S3: ...Brilliant tips...:S3:... Well captured Joe....and that second one, peeking out...adds so much....somewhere between Steve's and your RP would work well from my POV.

Will