Northern Saw-whet Owl ( Captive)

[Raymond Barlow]

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y281/rammy111111/NorthernSaw-whetOwlcaptive5.jpg

Mountsberg Conservation Area, Milton, Ontario, Canada
Nikon D300 (http://www.pbase.com/cameras/nikon/d300) ,Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S VR (http://www.pbase.com/cameras/nikon/200-400_4g_afs_vr)
1/40s f/8.0 at 270.0mm iso320

Tripod, natural light, slight crop

Another, from recent workshops.

[James Salywoda]

I really love the color tones with this one Ray a real gorgeous bird and excellent detail...

[Dave Mills]

Just a downright beautiful image...............

[Krijn Trimbos]

Hi Raymond,
A lovely image of a very allert looking owl, very very nice! I am looking at this on my work monitor, but I would suggest to lighten this up a bit/add a bit more contrast. Also the colours look a bit dull, and it seems as if you had some really nice fall colours to work with so I would suggest to sat the colours in this shot a bit more as well. Just some small pointers that could enhance your shot a lot IMO. Otherwise a great shot, well done!

[Lana Hays]

Raymond
It's another lovely pose filled with wonderful detail. I think Krijn is right in that it doesn't quite have the color "punch" that the others had.....or else it's my eyes going dim from grading too many papers. Well done....as always with your captive workshop settings.

[Grady Weed]

Krijn has hit the highlights. Lighten it up a tad and pop the colors. Another winner.

[Fabs Forns]

As pretty as a painting, congrats, Ray :)

[Krijn Trimbos]

Hi Raymond,

I took the liberty of reprocessing the image, I hope that is alright...

This is what I did:

I lit it up a little while adding some contrast to the midtones in curves......
I selectively used shadow highlight to get some more detail out of the shadowy areas
Gave it a bit more saturation all around (maybe a little too much :o)
Took out some of the yellow colour with color balance as I felt it has some yellowish cast to it
Returned some detail to the white areas with a mulitply layer
Selectively gave the eyes some more saturationIf you think this does this image more justice I leave up to you, IMHO it does. ;)

Cheers,

Krijn

[bill kominsky]

Agree with all that was said Ray, also like the re-post, wonderful image capture.

Bill

[Aidan Briggs]

Lovely portrait. The soft light and BG are excellent. I also about the colors being a bit dim, but I think the repost is a bit over the top.

[Bryan Erb]

Very nice Ray. I like the more subdued background in your original post, if anything the bird just needed a bit more pop. Nice sharp image.

[Raymond Barlow]

thanks everyone., I really appreciate all the cool comments.

Krijn.. I have no problem with anyone re-posting their edits., i honestly appreciate the effort to help me improve my editing skills, which are basically non-existant!

I agree with everyone, that shot needed a bit of work... the fall solours do dominate the image, and the bird needs a bit of pop, as Bryan suggests., I think you may have "over cooked" it a little., I am after a more natural look., but I am gratefull for your efforts.

I did shift my position several times during this shoot, I might take a look at another image, and give it a go with all of this in mind.

thanks again.