Theme. Wet and foggy night.

[keith mitchell]

Short eared Owl.
Nikon D700
Nikon 300mm 2.8
1/200@f4.5
ISI 500.
Hope this is ok for the theme if not would the mods alter title, thanks.


Shot from a while back that I liked, taken when the light was almost gone on a wet and foggy night ,hope I have captured the conditions, was surprised to get anything.

Thanks for taking a look and your comments on my last post.

[gail bisson]

Very nice ! I could also see this as a vertical.
Gail

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Nice one Keith. I like the perch, pose and HA. Agree with Gail this could work well in vertical too.

[keith mitchell]

Thanks Gail and Sanjeev,did wonder about the cropping but wanted to keep as much of the foggy conditions and liked the way the perch goes into the corner of the frame, will look at your suggestions.

[Eric Dienesch]

i like it exactly in your way, like you made it..
great work in my eyes

[William Dickson]

Nice looking bird Keith, well captured. I like the top half, but too dark for me on the bottom

Will

[Daniel Cadieux]

I love the look on the owl, those eyes are really neat and the wet look is cool . Good comp and perch. I have to admit that I am not crazy about the lower half of the image though...

[Karl Egressy]

Excellent work, Keith. You captured the wet foggy condition very well.

[Marina Scarr]

Killer subject and mood here. Too much space on the bottom for me.

I just saw the thumbnail of this image, and I find this crop works for the thumbnail much better than the OP. You have a super image here, but I do think you can improve on the comp.

[Geoff Newhouse]

Wow, I dream of getting an image like this. Owls are one of my favourites and yet I rarely have even seen one in the wild. The perch, mist, eye contact is perfect. No crits on this one. Great work.

TFS
Geoff

[keith mitchell]

Thanks to you all, afraid the lower half is about right for a foggy day in the flat part of Lincolnshire, but do take your points.

Thanks Keith.

[adrian dancy]

Hi Keith
Everything in photography is about compromise, especially bird photography, from choice of equipment to shooting and composition etc. To demonstrate atmosphere you sometimes have to include elements not so pretty when there is no other choice and judge the final image for what is. The bottom half in your image may benefit from A bit of smoothing out. But you have otherwise got an image which sets out what you are trying to achieve. Cropping in or changing to portrait will not tell the story. I have had a lot of experience photographing SEOs all rammed into one day in fog, mist, rain, cloud low light and fearsome cold wind...I share your pain:(

[keith mitchell]

Thanks Adrian, think you and I are on the same wave length, like to experiment even if it does make life a bit difficult sometimes, I used to think that pristine bird shots where all I needed to try for, but get more enjoyment with trying for shots like this one.


Keith.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Just to clarify on my end (which I should have done originally)...It's not the crop or the amount of space that I do not like about the lower half, but rather the darkness of the fog. I'd have preferred it much lighter, almost white, rather than "dirty" grey. I guess I'm just not used to seeing grey fog. But that is what you had, and I understand the difficult situation you had

[keith mitchell]

No problem at all Daniel,I understand where you are coming from, wish I could portray my thoughts and what I am trying to get at better.

Thanks a lot for your comments.

Keith.

[Jonathan Ashton]

A fine shot love the stare and the conditions make for a less than frequently seen presentation - well done!