Snowy in habitat

[Beth Goffe]

Post #2 here! I saw my first snowy owl this past weekend at Jones Beach. It was pretty far away in this protected area so this image is basically what I saw. I figured it should go in this forum as there is more landscape than bird. I like it because you get a good idea of the bird's habitat and the flock in the sky adds interest (I think these are snow buntings - in the larger version, black wingtips are evident. If so, these are lifers as well. :)). What do you all think about the towers in the background? I considered removing them but didn't as they are part of the Jones Beach panorama. Thanks for your comments!

40D, 100-400L @ 400mm 1/800s, f/9, EC -1/3, ISO 400

http://www.pbase.com/bgoffe/image/108775773/original.jpg

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hi Beth,
Not everyting is the "Wow" landscape and this show the snowy in it's environment nicely. I did a couple of things......first the crop.......while I like the birds in the sky as it adds to the environmental aspect...the 3 at the top added a lot of empty space on the right....so I cropped them out. I did clone out the left tower.....just for comparison.....as that is the environs.......so leaving it isn't an issue with me. I also cloned out one bird near the right edge of frame.....again....not 100% necessary.....just cleaned up the edge a bit. Big change is I did a multiplied layer on the sky (Robert has a tutorial on it at the top of the forum under tonal range tweaks) at 70% opacity and then I adjusted HS on the entire image to warm up the grasses a bit more......as you lose some in jpeg compression.
I think this is a nice environmental/habitat shot and it sure must have been thrilling to see one in the wild!

[Harold Davis]

hi beth, big congrats on your first snowy!!! i'm envious. i like your birdscape. really get a good sense of where these guys live.

[Robert Amoruso]

Beth,

Besides Roman's crop I suggest cropping just left of the tower. Not because of the tower but to more the bird righ tin the frame into a more Rule of Thirds placement. His placement now seems unbalanced in the much larger landscape.

[Beth Goffe]

Thanks for the comments! Sunday was a great, 2 owl, lifer day (saw a Saw-whet owl up close, too). Roman, I definitely prefer your sky to mine so I'll check out the tutorial when I have some time. And I'll do the same with Robert's suggestion on the crop. Appreciated!