Took this last spring in Cape Coral, Florida. Had to do some wing tip repair on the chick's left wing as I cut the tip off. So added canvas on the right. Curves, NR, sharpening. Lightened eye area a little bit.
Some people may not like the fact that it's not looking at the camera, but I liked that it was intent on what it was doing--trying out its wings---and wasn't bothered by my presence. I also liked the view of the developing pin feathers.
Thanks very much in advance for all comments and critiques.
Last edited by Melissa Groo; 03-14-2013 at 06:25 PM.
A very, very lovely image, Melissa. The light is great and I love that shade of green in the fb/bg. I love the "playful" pose and how engrossed the bird is in learning this new skill.
Excellent techs as usual. I thoroughly enjoyed this image, TFS.
The left leg seems a bit connected to the ground via the plants, otherwise, I like the image. The colors are great, nice and sharp and you seem to have done an excellent wing repair!
Glad to see you captured the owlet jumping. I love the inclusion of the wildflowers and seeing those talons exposed. HA doesn't bother me a bit. There's a green cast to the overall image which you'll see when you play with the magenta/green slider.
This is genuinely my favorite image of a Burrowing Owl. I've visited Cape Coral on many occasions, but I've yet to see (let alone capture) something like this. The timing is spot on, the detail is all there.
I do agree with Marina regarding the green/yellow cast. A little more room to the right, as Randy mentioned, would be beneficial. Great job on recreating the wing tip too.
Hi Melissa. A wonderful moment captured and I like that the bird is not looking at the camera! Nice job on the wing. I would agree about the slight greenish cast and more room on the right would be a plus. A couple tweaks will really put this one over the top!
Great job on this one Melissa. Smart of you to crank up the ISO to get that faster shutter speed. Love the pose and the HA is a non issue for me, your capturing a moment. The BG with the wild flowers is beautiful. Techs are right on and the shot is very sharp.
I have taken literally thousands of shots of Burrowing owls and I would be tickled to have this in my files. Very nice!!
Excellent capture of this bird, and very interesting story.
Not common out here in the Pacific NW, and certainly not with the nice green background (usually brown west of the Cascades).
I like the pose on this bird, and no need to have it facing the viewer.
Super image, love the pose, I see a yellow cast. The composition is good as are the lovely flowers beneath the chick. This is a very pleasing image and I could imagine this would make a lovely print.
The wing tip was repaired well, but now you mentioned it I can see the join which can easily be fixed using refine edge and or with some fine patching.
Light quality: Really good!
Action: Even better.
Composition: Very nice, particularly considering what you accomplished in post. I agree with the
suggestion of having more space on the right hand side, and actually, at the time of capture, I
would love to have seen what you would have come up with here without the 1.4 on.
Really dig the fg flowers/plants.
Lovely image, i envy you folks getting owls in light
the action is so perfectly captured here, the greens compliment it perfectly and your shooting angle makes it more super
Melissa, this is just a fantastic picture of a young owl. We don't see them often. Love the concentration of the chick testing its wing and not bother by the head angle as this is a behavior shot. The flowers in the ground made a lovely foreground and live the soft BG. Well done.
Follow the chick's gaze down to the plants and you'll see evidence of your repair, easy to fix on a deserving image such as this one. The action is sweet.
The repost looks terrific. When I saw the OP I noticed the yellow/green cast immediately so am glad you fixed that.
The flowers look great and all PP work is evidence free!
Gail
You couldn't ask for a nicer setting and the light is great! I know that most everyone so far hasn't minded the head angle, but it does detract IMO. Nice job with the PS work!
Burrowing Owl Chick Testing Its Wings
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