Spotted Owl

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

EOS 7D + 500 II L Lens
Wimberley Gimbal II + Manfrotto CX Pro4 Tripod
DPP RAW conversion, NR on BG, USM in PS CS5

Camera	Canon EOS 7D
Exposure	0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture	f/4.0
Focal Length	500 mm
ISO Speed	400
Exposure Bias	0 EV
Flash	Off, Did not fire

[Randy Stout]

Sanjeev:

Nice eye contact, bird is well exposed despite uneven light.

The large trunk on the left side of the frame is distracting because of the relatively high contrast against the sky. I might try to soften the edges a bit with the clone stamp.

If possible at the time you took the image, a couple steps to your left would have changed the BG to your advantage.

I like the one talon poking out at the bottom.

Cheers

Randy

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi sanjeev, from what I can see, you have really excellent light which some of us would kill for.

Each time I see an image from you, each time your PP work improves, good detail, nice DOF, like the texture in the bark/plumage, BTW these guys we call Little owls. Looking at the image I would suggest cropping about half an inch above the head, loosing the space and issues of the BKG. I agree with Randy on moving, but as presented I would move right not left but this is why it's so good to get feedback from a number of people as we all see things differently. You could try sampling the greenish BKG and replacing the highlight parts, but there are signs of Chromatic Aberrations which you can address in CS.

Keep the hard work up, it's paying off.

TFS
Steve