Saw-whet Owl2

[Joe Brown]

Another shot of a Saw-whet Owl from last week. Considerable pp on this image. Removed a couple of oof branches in the fg. Adjusted the strong contrast caused by the back light with S/H, B/C and dodging. As well created a vignette with dodge tool to reduce bg brightness and put focus more on owl. Some minor sharpening.

Do you find this successful or worth while?


http://www.joebrownphotography.net/images/Saw-whet2.jpg

Joe

[Lance Peters]

Hi Joe - You have cut the poor fellows tail off - I am a subscriber to "if its worth including - its worth including all of it" Looks clipped rather than a deliberate cut - which is a entirely different matter.
Do include your full shooting info - helps everyone see whats going on.
Looks a tad soft on my screen - also a bit of a contrast boost might help also - looks a tad flat.
Like the pose and visible eye.

[Gus Cobos]

Hi Joe,
I agree with Mr. Peters on the tail...would suggest boosting the saturation and contrast just slightly and selective sharpen the eye...looking forward to more...:cool:

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Joe

Agree on having the tail entirely !!

The PS work was worth it and would even go a little further since you have done so much ... try getting rid of the one branch going through its head !! You have a good one !!!

[Anita Rakestraw]

Joe, while I agree with the above critiques - it does have its issues - I think it's a worthwhile shot - certainly until you get a better one. That face with its large eye is precious! I don't even mind the slight softness, and didn't notice the cut off tail until I read the other comments. :D The image draws me right to the face. ;)

[Joe Brown]

Thanks everyone for the excellent comments.

Sorry about not including the shooting info. Here it is.
5D Mark II
300mm 2.8
1.4TC
1/160 sec
f5.6
ISO 400

Unfortunately, I can't crop in the rest of the tail as it wasn't captured in the original shot. This is a full size portrait crop of a landscape oriented image. Actually, I didn't think of this when I was composing the shot as I was concentrating on the head.

Regarding sharpness, being this close to the subject at f5.6 and 420mm I was working with a very thin dof. I think the beak and eye are sharp but the near side of the head is already soft. I had boosted the contrast and saturation but lowered them for the posting as I had received comments on earlier shots that I had over processed them. Same with sharpening. With the feedback I'm getting at this site I'm a little unsure how much is enough but I'm sure with time I'll get it right. :):):)

[Oscar Zangroniz]

Great image. I can see why you were consentrating on the head and not paying attention to the tail.
Congrats