Burrowing Owl

[Bryan Holliday]

I photographed this bird the other evening in Arizona. Half the sun was above the horizon. I suffer from red/green colorblindness so any comments on color would be appreciated. And anything else of course!
Thanks.

Canon 1DM3
600 f4 IS + 1.4x
ISO 250
5.6 at 1/60

http://www.bryanholliday.com/burrowingowl_BH_1110_web.jpg

[Fabs Forns]

Very nice pose and composition. I think the red channel is probably clipped, you could go darker and desaturate the reds. TFS.

[Bryan Holliday]

Thanks Fabs! I darkened the red channel. The greens of the trees in the background look much better to me, but I may still be missing subtleties. How does it look now?

http://www.bryanholliday.com/burrowingowl_BH_1110_web_retouch.jpg

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I like the angle, eye contact and composition. The repost looks better but the whites are still a bit overexposed and you introduced a green cast in the shadows. It might be easier if you go to the RAW file and recover highlights and desaturate the red channel a little if necessary.

[Arthur Morris]

Hi Bryan, Suggestion: check the calibration strip at the bottom of each BPN page as you re-do the image from scratch. It looks way too light from this end--both the breast and the sand.

[Bryan Holliday]

Thanks Axel and Artie. I went back and started from the RAW with your suggestions. Am I getting any closer? I really want to get the master file right on this one. This colorblindness thing can sure be a challenge sometimes.

http://www.bryanholliday.com/burrowingowl_BH_1110_web_retouch3.jpg

[Myer Bornstein]

The breast looks to light, a slight amount of burning in may help

[Arthur Morris]

Colors on the repost look perfect and you have saved the whites but highlights still too bright for me :) Ran a 10% Linear Burn on them after selecting with Color Range and then burned the bright circle of dirt in the center using Tim Grey non-destructive Dodge and Burn. The former and tons more is in Digital Basics, the latter will be in the next update :)

[Bryan Holliday]

Well that is a relief to hear! Thanks for all your input and help. I will fine tune those highlights on my file and it should be good to go. I've owned your Digital Basics from the beginning and it's been a great help :)