WHat's down there?

[keith mitchell]

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Nikon D4
Nikon 300ml 2.8
1/500@f6.3 iso1000.

My pair of Little Owls only reared the one Owlet this year but must admit was not a bit camera shy. Shot taken against a BG of wheat which gave me a nice clean and uncluttered bg.
Thanks for looking C&C much appreciated.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Hello Keith,

Love to see another one of my favourite subjects! I like the pose very much, it just shows how inquisitive these little owls are. I also like the comp, although I would be tempted to take off a bit on the LHS, if this were mine. As to the colours, I am not sure about the bird-there seems to be a bit of a magenta cast? Let us see what the others say, I look forward to read their comments.
Well captured, I wish I had the opportunity to see one of these Little Owls one day

Kind regards,

[Steve Kaluski]

OH, nice one Keith, like the setting as it's different and that quirky head angle, I know exactly what's happing, I bet he/she bobbed their head prior, too. Looks like the light was coming from the RHS which has lit the feather plumage nicely. Not sure if it needs a slight drop in Exp just on that area, or a mid tone adjustment just to enhance the plumage and define things more. Good to see you kept the eye as shot.

Looks like the D4 has made a huge difference to your imagery, great investment, well worth the money.

TFS
Steve

[Karl Egressy]

Very nice image, the color of the background goes well with the color of the eye.

[gail bisson]

Hi Keith,
I really like the pose and the IQ.
I see a bit of a magenta cast (easy fix)
I am not sure about the composition. I find the hole in the middle of the cement block very distracting. I would crop this to eliminate the " hole" and take a bit off the top to maintain a landscape orientation although a square crop would work here I think.

Gail

[Loi Nguyen]

Hi Keith, nice image with clean BG. I'm with Gail regarding the cement block as it is a bit too dominant. The color cast looks like magenta. The eye of this chick is a bit more Green than what i'm familiar with but it could be just variations based upon location. Here in California, the eye is Yellow and the feathers are more Brown. You must be really close since the cement block is very much out of focus. Loi.

Gabriela, Salton Sea in California is a good place to see these BOs. Shoot me a PM next time you are in California! It is about 4 hours drive from my home. Loi

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Keith, love the inquisitive pose, and great seeing those talons hanging off the edge of the perch. Comp wise, I would come in from the left.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Hello again Keith,
...and Steve and Karl and Gail and Loi and Stuart

...this image is so interesting that I had to take another look Some of you find the hole in the rock distracting, so I thought about it for a while...I still like it, to me it makes an usual perch; in a remote kind of way it makes me think of a column, of Greece. Of Athena (Athina) the bird which sees at night and belongs to the goddess of wisdom. Also, from an aesthetic point of view, the bird needs space to look into...

And dear Loi-Thank You-you are so kind! We have never been to California, not sure if we'll ever be able to travel to that part of the world. You are welcome to visit us any time if you decide to come to South Africa-we live in the proximity of a few Game Reserves and we'll make sure you see them all!

Wishing you all a great evening,