"I Love My Daddy"

[David Salem]

Here is one of the baby Burrowing owls from last spring giving his daddy a big kiss!!

1DX---840mm---f7.1---ss1/3200---ISO640---HH from truck@6:45pm---30% crop

Thanks as always for looking and for your input. I appreciate it.

David

[John Robinson]

Thats a cracker David. Superb detail and just that hintof somethingin the background
Very nicely done
John

[Frank Schauf]

Perfect comp and light, nice work, David.

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

Lovely detail and contents David! Perfect and complementary BG! Some signs of just a tad over sharpening but it might be just my monitor. Nice one!

[keith mitchell]

David your usual excellent quality and a perfect scene,birds blend beautifully on that lovely b/g.

Keith.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Yup... show me something that is not perfect. Love it, what a tender moment you captured. Thank you for sharing.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Lovely shot but I too wondered if it was a little oversharpened.

[Marina Scarr]

Not sure if it's a kiss or the kid yelling/demanding something in daddy's ear! Terrific humor and techs here, David! Sharpening looks spot on.

[David Salem]

Thanks everyone for the comments. I appreciate it.

This frame it one of the sharpest frames I have ever shot. For some reason, the sun angle, the breeze, the lack of moisture in the air or just timing, but this one out of the camera was obviously really sharp. I didn't think I over sharpened it, just my usual workflow and I didn't notice it looking crunchy. It looks sharp on my 5K monitor and razor sharp in the larger format.

Thanks Marina for helping out with your eagle eyes. Between you Gail and Grace, I can get a good judge of my sharpness, or lack there of. You ladies have some good eyes.

[Richard Flack]

Cracker image David, love the interaction captured here. Your usual high standard with a great moment to boot! Well done!

[Moe Ali]

Wow David. Now this is the kind of image I strive to get of an Owl (or any bird!). Beautiful tones and detail. And the pose is fantastic. Nice timing!

[Mike Poole]

Brilliantly timed shot in awesome light. My first thought was regarding the sharpening, but if you're happy with it, then I'd say leave it as it is.

Did remind me of how the conversation went with Mrs Poole when she saw the invoice to my 500mm !

[gail bisson]

Hi David,
You are killing me with these shots.
IQ, light, behavior portrayed,BG, DOF all perfect.
I have to admit that my eyes are telling me it is a bit oversharpened for web presentation but that is an easy tweak to a great image.
Gail

[David Salem]

Ok, I won't re-post but maybe a hair less sharpening. It was already pretty darn sharp so maybe it didn't need my normal amount. Thanks again

[adrian dancy]

The capture of the subjects here is priceless the setting and the light are lovely. If the original capture is sharp (which I accept) then something has clearly gone awry with the processing. The birds have a very scratchy appearance especially in the faces, breast regions and around the feet/talons. The rock on which the birds are standing immediately adjacent to the feet has come within the selection process for sharpening and this to me is quite evident. The rock is not uniform in sharpness on the focal plane. It is also evident in the area captured in the green background where the left hand bird has its bill open, and above and below around the rictal bristles which show quite clear artifacts/noise. There is also a halo effect around the right hand bird's left primary (part that is in shade) and this is usually evidence of over sharpening IMHO.

[adrian dancy]

Sorry David. I was not aware of your last post. I tried to be thorough in my critique....all that matters at the end of the day is that you have captured a great moment and we can all agree on that...and as I said above I have no doubt that the original capture is sharp.

[David Salem]

Thanks Adrian for the comments and the critique. Always appreciated. Yes the original is very sharp and yes I may have over sharpened a little bit, but I don't think it is to bad. You are right about the rock. It was covered in white wash and it took quite a bit of cloning to get it to even look this good. Not to easy when you don't have much bare rock to work with. Thanks again for your time.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi David, very well timed to capture the 'moment' open beak, and kissing dad. The light in this is simply outstanding, not to mention the IQ, and overall detail. Another great image from you. You keep turning them out.

[arash_hazeghi]

the interaction is just super so is the light! I remember this sequence it was awesome (did we shoot this together?)

I'm sure the RAW sharpness rocks, but I'd sharpen a bit less for web. The 1DX files need minimum sharpening as they come out tack sharp to begin with. I usually use smart sharpen 80-100 with radius 0.5


killer frame

[David Salem]

Thanks Stuart and Arash for the comments.

Arash, yes I think this is shot the evening we were together. Glad you like it. You must remember having to clean up that white washed rock
Yes the RAW was very sharp and this is sharpened at a radius of 0.4 and at about 100. I kept the radius a bit smaller because it was really sharp.
As you mentioned the frames from the 1DX can be darn sharp and require little sharpening. Need to look a bit harder at the preview on the site before I post. Thanks again

[Jim Crosswell]

Great interaction David! I like the moment, composition, details, and complimentary BG.

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Incredible interaction David. I can keep looking at this image. All's been said - congrats on a big winner!

[Satish Ranadive]

Gorgeous image. Spectacular moment captured.
Love it David.

Regards,
Satish.

[Binu John]

Killer frame, David! Love the moment you captured. Excellent exposure, BG, IQ and light. TFS

[David Salem]

Thanks again everyone!!

[Arthur Morris]

Wonderful interaction, BKGR, and techs. What gets me the most are those legs!