Short-eared Owl

[Matthew Studebaker]

This bird was roosting in with a group of 14 others within a few meters. Once I was close to the bird and got a few frame filling shots, I set the focus to manual and photographed the surrounding vegetation, then combined in photoshop to get a super HD image, which could easily be printed at 300dpi up to 5 feet wide.
Boundary Bay area, British Columbia | January | Canon 1D4 | Canon 600mm | f4, 1/125, ISO 200

[Dave Leroy]

A different take on a familiar subject and well done on capturing a feeling of the misty moisty bay. My preference would be to see the owl a bit more clearly and also a tad more into left corner or even a bit further away which might be tough with the log. Personal preferences only. A neat idea on the technique.

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Nice technique Matthew!

There is a wedding photographer that does the same thing. The method (coined by him) is called the Brenizer method and allows you to get a larger effective aperture. Pretty neat and nicely done!

I will agree with Dave on wishing that the subject was a bit clearer. Just a bit.

Miguel

[dankearl]

I really like what you have been doing in these last two posts and I like this a lot.
I do think the Owl needs to be higher in the frame for me, it is kind of lost.
I really like the mood and the in focus yarrow.

[Jim Crosswell]

The image really gives the sense that the owl is hiding. I like the loose crop and setting. Nice image Matthew!

[Karl Egressy]

Nice image, interesting technics, Matthew. The placement of the bird could be improved IMO by moving it a bit up and to the left. Of course it is personal taste only.

[Diane Miller]

Beautiful! I love the artistic OOF BG and the placement of the owl. The OOF vegetation partly covering it works because of all the matching vegetation we see in the image. I love the "horizon' line at the top of the vegetation.

I'm conflicted about the tall plant on the left -- can't decide whether it's providing a frame or pulls the eye over there too much. I'd wonder about an alternative crop in from the left, with that one plant removed, but you've probably done that. It does feel just a little bit tight on the bottom. You might get away with adding some canvas on the bottom (if that's not against your ethics) and do content-aware fill.

But either way, this is a stunning image!

[Marina Scarr]

I love the environmental feel and mood to this one. I am in conflict along with Diane about the crop. As presented, I am looking at the vegetation on the left before the owl. I think putting the owl in the bottom 1/3 would work in better showcasing your owl.

[SteveYoung]

Nice shot, Matthew. It would be cool to have the owl a little higher up imo, but excellent as is.

Nice technique Matthew!

There is a wedding photographer that does the same thing. The method (coined by him) is called the Brenizer method and allows you to get a larger effective aperture. Pretty neat and nicely done!

I will agree with Dave on wishing that the subject was a bit clearer. Just a bit.

Miguel

Thanks for the link, this is an awesome technique. I'm gonna try it out ASAP.