Short eared owls

[Jonathan Ashton]

Canon 7D, canon 500mm f4 LIS, tripod ISO 400 1/3200 f5.6.
In Photoshop I increased saturation a little on the sky and reduced brightness then I applied NR. I sharpened the owls selectively and made a quick mask ot the owl's eye and brightened it just a tad.
Two of the owls I have been pursuing appear to have adjacent territories and every now and again they meet, they have a brief tussle and then go their own ways. This is quite a large crop, but I would be interested to see what you think. Is it worth a look or simply to large a crop? Be honest I don't mind if you say it is not up to scratch.

[Jack Breakfast]

Well Jonathan, this image is to my liking as I am forever in love with these sorts of bird-related artistic & painterly statements, IQ be damned. Bear in mind that a high-IQ image is wonderful and what we all shoot for (I shouldn't say "we all" as I scoff when others say that and I should also avoid obnoxious puns) but in this case I'm quite fond of your artpiece as is. It's weird! It's strange! It's modern! I like it!

[Harshad Barve]

Liked this very much , excellent
TFS

[Ron Sprunger]

For all my admiration of your owl posts, I can't really come to grips with this one. I think the hint of the second owl is unsatisfying. Not that I wouldn't be proud to have taken it... I don't think the crop is the issue here for me. It's just the lack of a good look at both owls.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Jon, good pp work on the two owls, and both sharp. After seeing your recent posts of these guys across the grasslands, I dont feel this works due to the fact that they are a little small in the frame, with the higher owl flying away. You know you can go back any day to capture that elusive image. :w3

[Jonathan Ashton]

Thanks very much for the C&C, I anticipated a mixed reception so thanks very much, you have answered my question.

[Melvin Grey]

Inter-activity like this is always worth capturing - even if it does mean that the IQ will suffer because of small image size, bad light conditions etc. etc. The positions of both owls may not be perfect but that is beyond your control - you cannot 'Art Direct' wildlife! Interesting image, thanks for posting, v.g. post-processing and quality despite the small capture size.

Melvin