First post - short eared owl

[Deborah Hanson]

Tried digital photography about 2 years ago. Picked up again about 1 year ago after getting the D700. I am just learning photoshop and the other software programs out there. I would really like to learn what to do to get better.

Taken with Nikon D700 with 200-400 + 1/4TC. ISO 500, 1/500 shutter, 7.1 aperture, at 550mm. No crop and I tried to lighten the face and darken the background a bit. NR and a little sharpening.

Thanks for help
Deb

[Joe Brown]

Welcome to the form Deborah. Lots to learn here.
Very very nice first shot. I'm impressed that you could get this close to a short eared owl. On a recent outing of mine photographing owls the short eared owls kept their distance in the fields. I like how the post and barbwire lead your eye to the owl. The BG is very nice as well. The colours and light are beautiful. The owl's eye is sharp.
I find the face a little confusing as I would like to see more of the beak and whether he was eating something. I might crop just a bit off the top putting the owl higher in the image.

Joe

[Randy Stout]

Deb:

Very nice first post. Good points made by Joe.
I am generally not a fan of barbed wire in images, but the angle of this one makes it much more interesting.
I like the background, its effective, shows environment without interfering with the subject.
IMO, you perhaps lightened the eye just a bit too much, so it looks unnatural. Always a fine line.

The image is a little flat. I would recommend you try a version with the black slider moved in about 15-20 points. It will give a bit more definition without looking too contrasty.

Keep them coming.

You have come to the right place to learn.

Cheers

Randy

[Joe Senzatimore]

Welcome to BPN. I agree that this looks a bit flat but a fine image just the same. Nice comp. and detail. I too like how the barb wire brings the eye to the subject.

[Alfred Forns]

Big Warm Welcome Deb !!!

Love your first post, great mood, sharp, well exposed and I like how its cropped !! Agree with Randy the bird is a little flat and can also remedy with curves, if you are using CS4 its very easy !!! Need help please pm !!!

[Deborah Hanson]

Thanks for kind comments. I put off posting for awhile because of nerves.
I was lucky this year as we had an irruption of short-eared owls before the first blizzard (25+inches drove most away). I shoot from the car as there is really no place to walk into - the slough is either on private land or off limits. I was usually able to get pretty close to the owls. This owl was cleaning its claws after eating a vole. I have other photos which show the claws and beak a little clearer.
I thought that the image was flat but didn't know how to fix it. I will try to increase the blacks.

Thanks again
Deb

[Stephen Stephen]

Welcome Deb and lovely first post. I'm still looking to create a good image of this species.

Where are you located, Canada, US?

[Deborah Hanson]

Stephen
I'm in the US (North Dakota). Short-eared owls are here year round but not always as easy to find as they were earlier this winter.

Thanks for comment
Deb

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Welcome Deb and I love owls. :) (hint: my avatar. :D )

Lovely first image. I cannot say about the eye, but it does need a little more pop via a contrast adjustment. You have come to the VERY BEST place in cyberspace to improve your photography. Lots of fine, talented folks live here. :)

Thanks for sharing.

[Arthur Morris]

Welcome Deb. Steps for the repost:

1-cleaned glasses
2-Linear Curve plus fine tuning in CS-3
3-added 2 points of BLACKs to the BLACKs and the NEUTRALs in Selective Color
4-removed large nail from post using Patch Tool
5-removed wire from behind feet using Protect and Defend cloning and Patch Tool
6-removed two o-o-f grasses from behind bird with the Patch Tool

All of the above plus tons more is detailed in our Digital Basics File here:
https://store.birdsasart.com/shop/category.aspx?catid=32

ps: It is not so hard as it might seems. When I started digital, the word Photoshop terrified me :) Digital Basics is written like and easy to read and follow cook book filled with great recipes :)

[Deborah Hanson]

In the repost by Artie (thank you) the owl doesn't seem to sink into the background as much.
Question: Am I missing something when I take the photo? Are my settings or something not correct so that the photo was flat - or is that a function of the TC+lens I used.

Thanks again
Deb

[Arthur Morris]

In the repost by Artie (thank you) the owl doesn't seem to sink into the background as much. Question: Am I missing something when I take the photo? Are my settings or something not correct so that the photo was flat - or is that a function of the TC+lens I used. Thanks again. Deb

YAW. Your settings were perfect. As it states in both ABP II and in DB, all images that come out of digital cameras are low in contrast (flat) and do not look sharp. That's why God invented Photoshop :)

We look forward to seeing more.