Eared owl sleepy
Eared owl sleepy
Click of December 2015 in full Novara city
I hope you like
For the evaluation keeping in mind that:
A) I could eliminate the branch in post production but prefer not to intervene so invasively in photographs
B) there was no sun but the fog!
C) handheld shooting
Canon 7D + Canon 400 f / 5.6 L USM
1/160 sec, ISO640, f / 7.1
Processing with Canon DPP and GIMP
Long eared always hide very well and mostly in trees, so not easy to get a clean shot of them.
Hi Gialunca,
What a great find, and a nice subject. The image has a couple of issues, first the BG isn't that great with the bright patches in the BG and the many benches. The owl has a good HA but his eyes are closed and thus he isn't making a strong connection with the viewer. The composition is a bit awkward with the owl dead center and lower half of his body clipped. Finally the owl is a bit soft and noisy as a result of slow SS. The lens you are using does't have image stabilizer so at slow shutter speeds you will get some bur when hand holding. Increasing your ISO and using a faster SS will help.
I am moving this image to ETL forum for more advice regarding cloning of the extra branches
Keep up the good work , happy new year
Last edited by arash_hazeghi; 12-29-2015 at 12:49 PM.
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Gianluca, this is a charming portrait, and the fog makes a nice setting. I would not try to remove that small branch that is ruffling the breast, as that adds a touch of reality.
Would GIMP permit isolating the beak (is it 'becco'?) area and reducing a bit of the shadow? If not, the image is great as you have presented it.
Hi Gianluca. What a lovely looking owl.
You have done well to capture the owl in such hard circumstance. I agree with most of what has been said above. If the image were mine, I would have a look at cropping the brownish objects on the RHS and maybe try and reduce some of the branches a little by cloning/painting. The branch crossing his belly doesn't bother me a great deal. As Jess said, it makes the image a bit more natural.
In a perfect world, seeing his tail would have been good. As far as the eye contact, I disagree with Arash. He seems to be looking right at you at least with one eye. I might try lightening the RHS eye just a little.
Keep them coming Gianluca.
Last edited by Glennie Passier; 12-29-2015 at 04:08 PM.
I'm developing a new version without the branch and with a BG best, soon I plug
What does it mean RHS?
RHS = Right hand side.
Can't wait to see the new version!
Look:
Removed the branch
BG improved (less brightness and reduced noise)
Removed the branches too
For me it is already too "unnatural": D
I don't mind all the branches, they add some reality. And congratulations on getting a picture of an owl in any setting!
For me there are a couple of other issues. I think this would have been strong as a vertical composition (by turning the camera) to include more at the top and bottom, especially to get in the tail. And in light like that I usually try to pull out as much detail from the darks and lights as I can. Lightening the darks will bring out some noise, so it's a matter of balancing things.
For me, there is much more leeway in Adobe Camera Raw or Lightroom to do that -- I have always found limitations for that in DPP. Another alternative involves Photoshop (or some editor that will work with Nik's Color Efex Pro). The Detail Extractor there will be of some help in balancing tonalities. But maybe GIMP will do it too?
I also agree with Glennie that he is giving you a good look -- it is just a sleepy owl look. Owls do that.... But you can bring out the light on the face more to make it more noticeable. I don't know about your software but I did a quick mask with a soft brush on the face in PS and lightened the curve.
There are limitations to what I can do with a JPEG but here's a quick try. I cropped a little from the left to move the owl off center a bit. I like the balance of the leaf on the right.
I liked your owl so much that I thought I might throw this version in the mix. Hope you don;t mind Gianluca. I liked Diane's repost, but I didn't like the brownish leaf . Leaf cropped out. Some branches painted out and canvas added to the top. Lightened his eye and added a warming filter.
Well, I like all 3. Diane has given me the beak area, Glennie has warmed it up and somehow enhanced the contrast, and Gianluca has once again demonstrated his mastery at cloning out some of the distractions. I'm blowing the whistle and giving it to Maestro Gianluca. It's his own after all.
Of course, there are reservations. For example, as Gerald points out, these critters are rather reclusive, so branches add verisimilitude. Thus, the question comes to this: do you want an image of a shy owl sitting discreetely among the branches? Or do you want a studio image? I can't decide.
Glennie got wonderful detail here -- mine looks far too low contrast in comparison. I could/should have gone further with the Contrast slider in Detail Extractor.
Solitary? hahaha
Where I photographed the owl sometimes there are about 40 well together!
Today posting a new image of Owl vertical portrait ;)
40 owls! I have two outside my laundry door at the moment.
Drop the laundry and get out there!!Originally Posted by Glennie Passier
check to see if they're flying anti-clockwise....;-)
Happy New Year, all!!
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