One More Great Gray Owl

[Ashleigh Scully]

Hi -

Here is a third photo of a Great Gray Owl that I took and this time I tried using more of Marinas advice on sharpening and exposure.

Here is what I used:

Canon 5d Mark 3
Canon 500mm f/4l and a 1.4x teleconverter

I did this in Aperture Priority this time not manual

ISO: 800
Shutter Speed: 1/640
Aperture: f/5.6
Exposure Bias: 0.67 ev

She has a mouse in her talons and was ripping pieces off before she swallowed it.

I hope you like it and thank you very much,

Ashleigh

[dankearl]

Ashleigh,
These GGO photos are really nice.
Your improvement is remarkable (rocking a big lens and converter now?)
Nice PP and nice habitat in this one.
I would not go back to aperture priority.
Shoot everything manual, it will only help you improve.
The Owl looks nice and sharp in this one.

[Tony Whitehead]

Awesome stare, Ashleigh. I would add a little contrast to the bird and clone out some of the grass on the right. A slightly looser crop may be worth a try if you have more room. Here's a quick version using a medium contrast curves layer masked to the bird only and a quick healing brush clean up of the grasses to illustrate what I mean.

[Marina Scarr]

RP works but you have a magenta cast in your owl. You can do a color balance layer/adjustment toward the green and away from the magenta until it looks right.

[Ashleigh Scully]

Thank you Marina I will try that.

Mr. Kearl thanks for your comment. The lens I rented for the trip because I was supposed to be on a tour in the park to shoot wolves and bears from far away so that's why I had it. I use my Mom's camera body. One day I hope I can buy my own equipment.

[Loi Nguyen]

Ashley, great find and capture. IS it full frame? A little more room all around would be nice. Why the 0.67EV bias compensation? The BG is dark and I think the owl and the FG grass may be exposed more than necessary. Try to reduce exposure in PP and check the Levels (if you use PS) or the Black if you use LR. Loi