Sleeping on the Side of the Road

[Loi Nguyen]

Found this barn owl sleeping on the side of the road last winter at sun rise.

1DX
500f4 II
1/8000
F4
ISO-500
Handheld

I was driving up the Ojai mountains in the dark, so left my setting at F4 and ISO-1600. When I saw the barn owl, I stopped and back tracked as the sun began to rise. I reduced the ISO, but left the aperture the same.

Original horizontal, cropped for vertical, so quite a lot.

BG was under-exposed, so I increased exposure by 1/3EV and used DPP to do the RAW conversion to minimize noise.

Adjusted WB, removed a nasty barbed wire, 1 distracting brush.
Levels, Curves, UMS

Appreciate your comments.

Thank you

Loi

[keith mitchell]

Hello loi,love the sleepy pose you have captured although the perch does not look the best, sometime we get a bit of luck you certainly did with this, very nice indeed.

Keith.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Loi, sweet Barn owl and I think the side profile can be just as nice as a head on shot, as it shows more of the wing/plumage.

Obviously, if this was last winter then your techs have improved a huge amount since then, so pointing out about ISO/Aperture/DOF on the 1DX is like an echo... You might like to try a Luminosity adjustment say around 80%, just punches up the colours a bit more and you can then be selective with your masking. Not wild about the perch, but it's natural, however if the subject is sharp and the post is on the same plain, then I think there should be a bit more sharpness on it, WDYT? Might be tempted to run a soft brush over the slightly bright white on the RHS to tone it down a fraction.

Meant to add, try adjusting the Green in HSL, it seems to enrich things, but you may feel it does not reflect the scene?

TFS
Steve

[Satish Ranadive]

Very very nice image of owl with side profile. I like the way it pops up against dark BG. Nice composition too.

Regards,
Satish.

[gail bisson]

Crazy, wonky techs but you got away with it!!
I think I would have died and gone to heaven if I just happened upon a barn owl like this. My jealousy bone is positively aching right now.
Comp is excellent and like the light on the owl. My favorite part is that luscious green BG.
Gail

[Sandy Witvoet]

Very sweet profile! I too, would LOVE to see something like this. WDYT about diminishing the "line" on the perch (where it goes from white-ish to brown?)

[Loi Nguyen]

Thank you everyone for your comments.

Steve, your suggestion to darken the BG with a brush worked great. Also added a little bit of HSL.

Gail, it was just my lucky day. I was still shooting in AV mode then.

Loi

[Steve Kaluski]

Steve, your suggestion to darken the BG with a brush worked great.

Hi Loi, it was only for the whitish streaks, just to tame them rather than the overall BKG, unless I misunderstood the above? I still thing the green could come up a bit, but perhaps being a bit more 'subdued' helps to separate the subject.

cheers
Steve

[Marina Scarr]

Stunning light, details, BG & colors.