This guy (or gal -- I forget which) is a "professional model" at a bird rescue center, but it will have to do until I can get this close to one in the wild. Taken last March, Canon 5D Mk III, 300mm f/2.8 IS + 2x III. (I was too close for the 600.) ISO 1600, f/6.3, 1/200, Wimberley II on a big Gitzo. I wish I had gone to more like f/8 or 9.5, as the feathers around the beak are not sharp, but light was an issue. I could / should have used some flash.
Just basic tonal corrections in LR, and then brought into PS where I toned down the sky reflection in the eye. Removing it completely left the eye looking too flat, and there wasn't a good place to leave a catchlight that looked natural. I did some extra sharpening around the beak and was able to bring up just a little more appearance of sharpness there. I exported from LR with sharpness set to High and even the most subtle subsequent sharpening of the JPEG gave it the crunchy look in the already-sharp parts and did nothing for the unsharp areas, so I left it as it was.
I actually really like the eye here, might be neat to have it full strength, though maybe it was too much?? It was the first thing I noticed before reading your PP, I see trees in the eye, what a neat reflection.
The beak looks good, interesting pose, love the top of the head.
I wish the little hair feathers on the off side of the head, on the right were sharp even though that side of the face is OOF, having those few hairs sharp against the BG might add some interest.
The rest I will leave up to the pros.
I also only have the occasion for captive owls, but love being near them.
You have given yourself a good critique.
I am glad you did not use flash on the owl. There is a lot of discussion/controversy about harming their eyes. And I am in the camp that until we know for sure, I will not flash an owl.
I like the open beak and the feather detail.An aperture of F10 would have been the way to go but realize you didn't have the light.
I would like a slightly looser crop,( personal taste thing)
Gail
I actually like the depth of field fall off for portraits like this. The out of focus area to the left and just below the open beak does bother me, wish that was in focus. I have nothing to say regarding your processing...it looks fine.
Nice looking close up with beautiful feather details and a cool look at the inside of the mouth. Well done Diane Oh, I also like the reflection scene in the eye.
Thanks everyone! I might restore some (all?) of the brightness of the reflection in the eye. (Easy to turn off that layer or reduce its opacity some more.)
Gail, it is on the tight side. There's a just little more on the left, and I could add to the top and right. Should have backed off a little, that would have given a little more DOF too.
I hadn't heard discussions about flash harming owls. I would have thought it would be bad for any animal but people use it so much I stopped thinking about it. I definitely prefer natural light when I can get it, and if I do use flash I want it to be considerably off-axis, if possible, for delineation of details. That might reduce the impact to eyes a little. Thanks for the heads-up on the issue.
Great Horned Owl (C)
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