Juvenile Barred Owl Wing Stretch--My First Avian Panorama

[Melissa Groo]

Canon 1D Mark IV
500mm
Gitzo/Wimberley

1/20 sec
f/4.5
ISO 1600

Wanted to share my first attempt at a Panorama Stitch (vertical), something I have seen Artie do here before, and which may he helpful when one finds oneself with too much lens and too little time. I was in the woods not far from home here in upstate NY a few weeks ago, and very close to this barred owl juvenile. Had to shoot at a high ISO (not a flash user). Cranked the 1D4 up to 1600 ISO. I had found this fledgling by hearing its begging call. I was using my tripod and was too close when it decided to do a wing stretch. So I quickly took a shot of the upper half and then panned down to get a shot of the lower half. Stitched the two images together in Photoshop, with some canvas added on either side. I cloned out a couple out of focus branches in the upper right corner, and used the brush tool to "green" some whitish areas in the background. Brightened face a bit. NR, sharpening.

There are probably some issues with this image, but I just love the pose and the view of that stunning plumage, and thought others might like to see it.

Note the right foot looks weird, but that's how it was--there must have been a small branch facing it out of our view. Or maybe it was not resting on anything.

Thanks so much for all comments and critiques.

[Karl Egressy]

I really like this shot, Melissa. Thanks for sharing the technics. One day it might come handy. I'm really impressed!!!!!

[Andrew Merwin]

Nice image Melissa. I like the eye contact, the pose & the wonderful feather detail. It appears that the right foot is below the owl's perch. I am hard pressed to see the stitching & added canvas. Excellent PP. TFS.

[dankearl]

I would have no idea if you had not told us.
Maybe a bit more contrast, and tone down the leg a bit.
Excellent work, both in taking this and processing it.

[Grace Scalzo]

Well done on all accounts. Has a sense of intimacy about it. Good thinking to get enough captured in camera to allow for this outcome!

[Petros Petrou]

This is a very nice image. Great detail for such a low shutter speed. I had to check the exif data to verify that it wasn't a typing error! I like the pose and the clean BG. PP work seems perfect and stitching is not visible. As for the right foot perhaps the owl was stretching it with the wing.

[Satish Ranadive]

Wonderful image with such low ss and superb panorama Stitch. Love the expression of owl.

Regards,
Satish.

[Loi Nguyen]

Melissa, great details and sharpness especially at 1/20 SS. DOF looks good too at f4.5. Very intimate and great portrait of a good looking bird. Great job on the stitching. Loi

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Melissa, great eye contact here, and love the 'twisted' pose. Good work on the stitching of the owl, cant detect any evidence. I can however see evidence on the RHS of the perch, with a few repeat patterns, but this is all about the owl, so well done.

I recently did the same thing, but my subject was a giraffe. I keep looking at the two images I captured, top half, and bottom half, but havent had the courage to attempt this process.

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the eye contact, wing stretch and stitched composition. Well done under challenging conditions Melissa!

[Richard Flack]

Awesome image!

[Daniel Cadieux]

Well done on the quick-thinking in the field and then processing after wards. Just a few repeating patterns worth working on that Stuart mentions, but the rest looks very nice indeed. Most birds stretch a leg along with a wing so the foot is most likely off the branch and extended a bit towards the back.

[Bruce Spell]

Melissa, excellent job and quick thinking in the field. Your PP on the stitching is magnificent. Glad you were thinking ahead. As has been mentioned, the sharpness is superb for such a low shutter speed (though you were on a tripod so that helped). I love the background and the owl's pose. I hope I can remember this technique should I find myself in a similar situation in the future!