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Thread: Mottled Owl in front of my grand ma house

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    Default Mottled Owl in front of my grand ma house

    hi everybody i share this image
    iso 400
    canon ef 70-300 f/4-5.6 is usm @ 300mm
    f/7.1
    1/80 sec
    camera flash @ 1/1

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    Avian Moderator Randy Stout's Avatar
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    Nelson:

    Great owl stare, well exposed. The perch is a nice scale for him, but because the flash lit it up pretty well, it is a bit bright against the darker background. Would consider burning it in a bit in post.

    Other good option to downplay the perch would be to convert this to a vertical crop, esp. if you have a little room top and bottom.

    Cheers

    Randy
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    Lifetime Member Marina Scarr's Avatar
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    What a great looking owl. Exposure looks good. Did you work on the eyes or did they come out like this? It is often so difficult to photograph owls with a flash unless you keep the flash far off of your camera. I agree with Randy that if you have the room, I think this would make a great vertical.
    Marina Scarr
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    thanks, i work the eyes with lightroom red eyes and photoshop burning tool
    thanks for comments

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    Nice looking bird with a nice stance. I agree about the overpowering with the flash making the background a bit too dark. Could you have shot at 5.6 and brought the power down a bit. Or even raised the ISO some?

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    Lifetime Member Marina Scarr's Avatar
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    You did a very good job working the eyes. How dark was it when you photographed this owl?
    Marina Scarr
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    Quote Originally Posted by Miguel Palaviccini View Post
    Nice looking bird with a nice stance. I agree about the overpowering with the flash making the background a bit too dark. Could you have shot at 5.6 and brought the power down a bit. Or even raised the ISO some?
    hi miguel if i choose to use f/5.6 in owl shots i will not have dof den you will see a shot like this, only the head in focus, so i try to use f/7.1 and f/8
    thanks for commentes i post a new photo, so you can see what i talk bout

    Last edited by Nelson Mena Alfaro; 09-16-2012 at 12:00 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Marina Scarr View Post
    You did a very good job working the eyes. How dark was it when you photographed this owl?
    hi marina, as i used my built in flash i had to give a little more light in the eyes, but i dont understand what you mean with dark, i took the photo in the night, hehe so i think it was dark kool

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    Hola, Nelson. In my opinion, if using flash as main light for owls at night (indeed if using it for most subjects), you just have to get the flash off-camera. There's not really any way around it as if you don't, the image will look flashed. In the case of the image presented originally, f5.6 would have given you the depth of field you needed, allowing you to use your flash at 1/2 power or so. Nonetheless, it's still direct flash as main light so you have the same flashed-looking image. Basically, it's not the quantity of light but rather the quality and direction of the light that matters when flash is the main, or especially the only, source of light.

    You might find this recent post on my website helpful: http://www.deepgreenphotography.com/...and-white-owl/
    (To the mods, I hope it's OK to post this link. If not, my apologies and Doug, you can punch me when I get to your house in a few weeks.)

    If you can't get flash off-camera, I would recommend using a flashlight and shining it from off-axis. You'll need to use a higher ISO, but you can get a really nice effect this way.

    Saludos,
    Greg
    Last edited by Greg Basco; 09-16-2012 at 12:48 PM.

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    thanks greg i think in the first image maybe 5.6 works good cause i was maybe 6 meters from the bird, but sometimes the subject is really closeto me, so i use 7.1 or 8
    i think it depends on the distance, angle and position of the bird...

    i read yure post few days ago, i tihnk is really kool and professional, but i dont have 2 flash hehe i only use the built in camera flash

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    Hi, Nelson. Correcto, for the second one you definitely would need more depth of field (or less to go for a really shallow look). It does indeed depend on magnification and orientation of the bird. Glad you enjoyed my blog post. I understand about not having the flashes -- I think you might enjoy the flashlight idea.

    Suerte,
    Greg

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    yes kool im a fan :)

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