Montado Scene - The Tree and the Owl B&W

[Richard Unsworth]

I have been working with Athene the last couple of days; she/he is becoming accustomed to the car.

This was taken earlier today.
I chose B/W as it shows up the Cork Oak textures and shades.

ISO 800 F5.6 MANUAL FOCUS, POINT SELECTED TO LEFT OF CENTRE 1/800
CC B&W FILTER, NEUTRAL DENSITY APPLIED, TOPAZ DETAIL, TOPAZ NR - LIGHT

Hope you like

[keith mitchell]

Richard I like the pose of the Owl I think I would like to see it cropped a bit tighter around the bird ,I like the old bark but I think there may be a bit too much of it.Looks like these Owls are working well for you.

[Anette Mossbacher]

Hi Richard,

I was so freely to have a go on your B&W, hope you do not mind. WDYT?
I tried to turn down the highlights in the tree trunk RHS and bring the owl a bit more to the FG. All done in CS6
Overall I like your choice of comp, that you give the owl space.
Jus visiting from the Wildlife corner

Ciao

Anette

[Richard Unsworth]

THanks to you both;

great thing is I have lots of options.

Anette, nice of you to drop by!

I like yoiur interpretation, actually I actually put on max white on the bw filter in CC, probably a bad choice lol

Everyone else , feel free to mess around

[Anette Mossbacher]

You are very welcome Richard

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Richard, for me the OP isn't working, you need more tonal range if you are going B/W, as the OP looks quite flat, Anette's is going more in the right direction. B/W can be really striking and dramatic, but I feel you have to have better light to make this work. I might suggest also cropping some of the LHS, as to me it's not adding much and would give a cleaner line, perhaps start a vertical line where the tree ends at the top trim, about 1.5 inches in from the left. Not sure if going B/W is the right choice for this shot, a colour version might be more balanced?

TFS
Steve

PS I might drop the opacity on your ©, is a little distracting, thanks.

[Richard Unsworth]

Thanks Steve, good comments as ever; I obviously have a color version, but look for new ways to show images.
Some work some dont.

No worries on the sig, it will go in the bin, I dont normally bother with one.

I am getting within a few feet of Athene now and got hundreds of shots today!

[Steve Kaluski]

Richard, just take your time and let them build the confidence with you, if you push it too quickly they will go and lost forever. Once they are happy, just always keep in mind 'respect', you will reap the rewards big time, it's a great feeling, especially out in the field, as your images will reflect your patience and hard work!

[Joe Senzatimore]

I feel the B&W doesn't work for this image. The tighter crop is a good option as too much detail/texture in the tree competes with the subject. Would love to see a color version.

[Jamie Douglas]

I like what you are trying here Richard and my only comment to add would be to punch up the F stop to get better dof. I find the image is sharp on the right and soft on the left, a little distracting when your eye is trying to focus on the owl.


Good luck with the little fells. Remember the DOF and lens support/shutter speeds as I think you could get those feathers sharper.

Jamie

[Martin Dunn]

Richard, it sounds as though you are getting some wonderful opportunities.
I feel that the balance of this image is wrong. The bark on the RH side is the brightest part of the image and seems to also be the sharpest, because of this your lovely owl is a bit lost in amongst all the tree textures and just doesn't stand out. It looks as though the owl is not as sharp either. Anette's re-post went some way to changing the balance but the owl still doesn't stand out enough.
Hopefully there will be many more opportunities.

[Satish Ranadive]

Wonderful image of Owl in B/W. Love the lights and shadows,which I always.
I like the texture of wood, nice pose of owl and composition looks very nice.

Regards,
Satish.

[Richard Unsworth]

A color version

comments welcome

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Richard I'm away and relying on the laptop, not ideal, but this does look a little too dark in the shadow areas, I might perhaps look to opening them up a little. Likewise I would look at the subject too. You also have some Blue creeping in bottom LH corner. I think the crop is better, WDYT?

[Richard Unsworth]

OK Steve

btw all my processing is on a laptop my PC is about 1500 miles North lol

[Richard Unsworth]

lifted shadows a liitle
deblued

thanks

[Arthur Morris]

For me, it's like you are trying to _ _ _ _ against the wind here--the strong sidelight does not work with birds in color or B&W, and the subject is too centered. I believe that I saw an evenly lit image of this bird that really rocked. Kudos though for trying something new.

[Richard Unsworth]

You did indeed see that Arthur.
In the morning when this frame was taken, the light is strong from the right, during the afternoon towards sundown it is directly behind the position I can get to.
One morning it will be cloudy!!
For me its worth trying

[Arthur Morris]

Yes, it is always worth trying, but sometimes we simply need to acknowledge that an image just does not work. I do it all the time :).

[Marina Scarr]

My favorite version is the final repost in color. I am with Artie in that the black-and-white is not working for me either. But I'm awfully glad to see you thinking outside the box. It will pay off in the future time and time again.

[Richard Unsworth]

Thanks Marina

accepting b&w was not the way to go
though doubtless I do it again lol...
...wonder what it would look like in blue......