Burrowing Owl at Sundown

[Robert Holguin]

Hello everyone. Well the little burrowing owl that I have been spending time with finally decided to use a natural perch. I was stoked and I was really happy about the light and background. C&C welcomed and encouraged.
Camera - Nikon 300s, Lense - Nikon 200-400 w/1.4tc, Exposure - 1/400, Aperture - F8, ISO - 400, Metering - Multi Segment, Manual.

[Stu Bowie]

Robert, love the expression, together with the light and colours. I wish he had opened his eyes a little wider.

[Steve Canuel]

Great colors on this one Robert. I like the way two talons from each foot are showing on the perch.

[RakeshDhareshwar]

The main difference with other BO images is that it has a natural perch ! Lovely light and eye contact !

[Troy Lim]

Love everything about this shot except the perch.

[Chris Ober]

Sweet. Love the gradient background.

[Bill Dix]

Great shot, Robert. Nice light, although the perch seems a little bright for the rest of the image.

[Dumay de Boulle]

I really like this image...i will say the perch does not bother me. i love the light and colors especially the BG...Lovely image Robert

[Jim Crosswell]

Nice image Robert! I like the BG and pose. I would find a nice perch and stick it in the ground in the area you have been working with the owl. Look forward to seeing more.

[Mike Fuhr]

Love this image and the attitude displayed by this guy. Perch does not bother me one bit. Nice capture!

[Arthur Morris]

I too am OK with the well worn perch. Robert: are you on a MAC? Your image always look too light to me (and to several others as well).

[Robert Holguin]

Thank you all very much for all your comments. They are much appreciated.

Arthur - Thank you for your feedback. As far as my computer its a Windows. I know this is no excuse but this coming month (June) will be my 1yr anniversary since I started photography. Never owned a dslr much less knew what one was. I have been learning as I go. Reading different articles and paying attention to the techs posted of different pics and trying it myself according to the situation. As far as my PS goes... I barely scratch the surface of the CS4 program I have. Just the other day when you commented on my previous owl shot and suggested I darken the midtones I had to google how to do that. Again its no excuse but thats why I here cause I want to learn how to improve my skills. I also think not having a calibrated monitor might be the cause. Sorry so long.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Bob. You are doing quite well overall. Do you know how to adjust your monitor angle via the calibration strip?

Best suggestion to improve your Photoshop skills cheap is to get yourself a copy of our Digital Basics File (https://store.birdsasart.com/shop/item.aspx?itemid=252). No joshing.

[Robert Holguin]

Thank you again for helping me out. No I do not know how to calibrate my monitor using the strip. I will look into that program you suggested.

[Arthur Morris]

Ah. That explains a lot. First, scroll down to the bottom of any BPN page to the calibration strip. Next, adjust the angle of your monitor so that you can differentiate the tonalities of the two or three dark boxes on the left and the two or three light/white boxes on the right. The last box on the left should be pretty close to black, the next, very dark grey, and the next dark grey. On the right you should be seeing close to pure white on the right, then a very light grey box with a light grey box next in line.

Once you have done this you can be confident that your brightness slider adjustments during conversion (or your mid-tone slider adjustments in Levels in Photoshop) will be accurate. Get in the habit of checking the angle of your monitor regularly while you are working. Sometime I process my images at a desk, sometimes in bed, sometimes in an easy chair, and sometimes in a car (using the Think Tank Pixel Sunscreen (http://www.thinktankphoto.com/products/pixel-sunscreen-v2.aspx)); it is important to check the calibration strip and adjust your monitor angle if you wish to have consistent results.