My entire day was planned when I received a frantic, mid-morning call from a friend that these owlets were in the process of branching. An obvious change of plans was in order, since within hours, the owlets could render themselves out of sight in the thick canopy above. When I witnessed the owlet on the left leaning over to contemplate its leap from a nearby limb, I quickly removed my TC to allow for more SS for any action and b/c I was hoping to have both chicks in the frame. Once the older chick landed on the tree trunk (just above the top of the nest cavity), its younger sibling falteringly joined it. Only a few shots were possible before both climbed straight up the tree.
This was a very difficult frame to process. I must have processed it approx 5 times before settling on this version. There was a slight bit of steel eye adjusted but nothing else. Thanks in advance for any comments and/or critiques. They are most welcomed and much appreciated. Happy Easter everyone!
Canon 1D4, Canon 500L
F6.3, 1/400sec, ISO 1250, manual mode
Fill flash w/BB @ probably -2
Feisol tripod, Jobu head
Marina
it is fantastic situation and shoot.
For me all is ok becouse is also necessary to take the right idea about the difficult of the moment and of the shhot
The only noise, for me, is the white insite BG and more in the up side on the left...but it is only a little
Thought I'd post an image of the nest tree so you can better visualize what I was dealing with here. If you look closely you can see one owlet perched at the top of the long cavity, and one sitting at the bottom a bit hidden behind some vegetaion. The image I posted above was taken above where the top owlet is sitting in this capture. It's amazing how well a long lens aids in cutting the angle of a high shoot like this one.
Last edited by Marina Scarr; 04-23-2014 at 05:06 AM.
Lovely image Marina. Really enjoyed the environment shot. And congratulations on your 7500th post! I have really appreciate your input and photographs. (In terms of the first photograph, the only distraction for me is the green leaf above the right hand owl's head... but that is how things go). Thanks for sharing.
A big congrats on 7500 Marina. Your contribution to this forum is greatly appreciated. Your critiques have really helped me get better at this hobby/passion and I thank you for that.
Lovely shot. I like the little leaves above the owlet as they add a punch of color to the image. I might clone out the extra catchlight in the right owl's eye.
Great behavior captured and thanks for showing the tree. It gives a good sense of the situation you had to deal with,
Gail
Hi Marina - Congrats on 7500! Great to see both owlets in the same image. I thought it looked like there was a yellow cast to the image and this was confirmed by seeing your post of the tree and bringing the image into PS. Btw your op does not have an embedded color profile. Try dropping the yellows by about 25 points.
Think that it's all been said, great shot. Your patience and persistence in watching these little fellows has really paid off. Contratulations on reaching 7,500 posts. Remarkable.
Every thing has been said about this Marvellous image of two curious little kid about new world.I would like to congratulate for your 7500th post with this and will just like to say....
Regards,
Satish.
Last edited by Satish Ranadive; 04-21-2014 at 11:23 AM.
Well done Marina. Your help always been appreciated. All been said about the the shot and I can't really add anything
. I presume the image is showing in SRGB. Anyway whatever - looks good to me.
Cheers
John
Marina, well done and congrats on your 7.500 posts. The tree looks pretty tall, so even with the 500, I assume this was a big crop? IQ looks pretty good to me and your use of fill flash was great. The highlights on the BG is just a tad distracting, but very minor, and probably nothing you can do about it. Loi
Congrats on 7500 posts Marina!! Your help on BPN has been invaluable.
Cute image of these youngters, well balanced comp, and I like the forest feel of the image. A bit of an easily correctable yellowish cast, but all else is awesome..
I thought it looked like there was a yellow cast to the image and this was confirmed by seeing your post of the tree and bringing the image into PS. Btw your op does not have an embedded color profile. Try dropping the yellows by about 25 points.
Rachel
Thank you Rachel for the advise on the cast. I think I worked on this image for so long that I could no longer see what was right in front of my eyes! I have adjusted it accordingly and it looks much better.
Originally Posted by Loi Nguyen
The tree looks pretty tall, so even with the 500, I assume this was a big crop? Loi
This was actually a very small crop, Loi, probably 20%. The left side is untouched, I took a tad off of the top and bottom and a larger amount off of the right to remove an offending twig.
Thank you all for your comments, critiques and kind words. I have formed some special friendships as a result of being a BPN member and moderator and learned a ton about photography. Nothing like having fun and learning!
Congats on the 7500th post Marina. Love the shot and the whole scene. Your hard work has paid off with many beautiful images and I look forward to many more. See ya soon.
The photo would have been appealing to me without (1) the great background story you told about your change of plans, (2) the story of your difficulties processing the shot, (3) the great followup image showing tree and habitat, and (4) knowing that this was your 7,500th post. With all that added, I appreciate the photo even more. Your experience shows through not only in the 7,500-post milestone, but also in your instinct to change your plans when you heard the owlets were branching, your struggles processing, and your comment about how a long lens eats up that high angle. Just a great post through and through.
7,500th Post - New Kids on the Block
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Originally Posted by Rachel Hollander
