Last Feeding of the Day

[Loi Nguyen]

I had an opportunity to see a Burrowing Owl Father worked tirelessly from 7AM to 5PM to feed his family of a Female Owl and 3 hungry chicks. Not once that he kept the prey to himself. He brought every morsel to the nest and mouth fed his chicks. This is the last feeding before he handed the duty over to the female and went across the road to hunt for himself.

I had this shot a few months back, but it was under-exposed, so I tossed it aside until today. I brought up exposure by 0.8eV in DPP, exported to CS6, cropped about 50% since the BG was dark and boring.

Would like your feedback on the image

1DX
500f4 II + 1.4X III
1/5000
f5.6
ISO-800
BLUBB Beanbag over car window

Thank you

Loi

[arash_hazeghi]

nice behavior and good sharp details. too bad they were in the shade, the dirt in the FG/BG is not too attractive but they usually nest on the ground. BG can use some NR.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Loi, I agree with the points Arash as covered, great to capture the interaction between the two, nicely timed.

I would also suggest adding two Graduate filters to both FG & BKG just to tone things down a bit more, adding some mid tone and perhaps a Curves Channel adjustment to the owlet (optional). Obviously adding some NR as Arash mentioned really helps. Personally I might prune the small flower and small stone at the foot of the image on the trim line, they tend to catch my eye.

TFS
Steve

BTW If you are really interested in these owls a good friend has recently launched his new book, I can send you Andy's link, just let me know.

[Mervyn Marsh]

Hi, I like this photo and don't mind the shady dirty look.. Photos shouldn't always be clean and perfect :) nice stuff.

Cheers,

Merv

[gail bisson]

The behavior captured is great.
I like the spotlight effect on the owls.
I would crop from the bottom to just above the rock on left side to reduce the impact of the FG and get rid of the bright rock.
Gail

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Excellent capture Loi, I love the interaction and the details.

[Matthew Studebaker]

I just love the light here. great interaction. a little noise reduction and it's perfect.

[Satish Ranadive]

Loi,
Very beautiful image. I like the light and shadow effect (I always like it,personal test). Very nice moment captured with nice story too.

Regards,
Satish.

[Jonathan Ashton]

I like the contrasting light but would suggest toning the highlights down a little especially on the leg of the adult, a very interesting image.

[Grace Scalzo]

It is a very sweet image with great behavior and intersaction. Reduce the noise a bit more, I'd trim up a bit from the bottom and put it in your favorites folder.

[David Salem]

Nice interaction shot Loi. Nice look at the feeding of the chick. Sharp and detailed. Well done

[Girish Prahalad]

lovely behaviour captured here. the poses & details are very good.

[Loi Nguyen]

Hi Everyone, sorry for being out of touch the last 4 days due to no internet access. Your comments were much appreciated and I was very happy to be able to "save" this shot.

Arash, thanks for reminding me on NR on the BG.

Steve, thanks for your pointer. Yes, I made a mistake for brightening up the mid tone a bit much with Levels. I reduce the "spot light" effect on the owls here. Also took out a distracting twig over the head of the chick.

Hope you like it better.

Thank you!

Loi