Little Owl

[Steve Kaluski]

Well certainly over the last 2-3 weeks we have be hit hard with rain and flooding, not a great start to the year either, but things look to be changing and the rain seems to be easing and the temps are at last, starting to fall too. So with a window of opportunity yesterday and no signs of the Little owls, I took the opportunity to inspect the nesting boxes for these guys, clean them out, refresh the inside and rehang, but the Cherry picker certainly chewed up the waterlogged ground big time.

So I thought it would be fitting to post this wee fellow who was the second generation to inhabit the first nest box. Rather pedestrian and basic, but... the BKG is the old Willow tree.

Thanks to those who viewed or posted a comment on the previous thread.

Steve

Subject: Little owl (Athene noctua)
Location: UK
Camera: Canon 1DX
Lens: 500f/4MKII with 1.4MKIII HH
Exposure: 1/500s at f/8 ISO1600
Original format: Portrait, cropped for presentation.
Subject distance: 9m
Processed via: LRCC (2015) & PSCC 2015

Note: The subject is fully wild and completely unconstrained. Besides the potential impact of my presence, nothing has been done to intentionally alter or affect the ongoing behavior of the subject and, of course, there has been no use of any form of bait or other form of wildlife attractants (including vocalisations) in the capture of this image.

[keith mitchell]

Steve you always seem to get the colouration on your Little Owls spot on, this one looks a tad dark but does fit well on to that bg and the way you are showing the image,IQ top class as always.

Keith.

[David Salem]

Great looking frame Steve. The head on stare, the nice perch, the clean details and the mottled BG all look fantastic.
I agree, this looks pretty dark on my calibrated monitor. I might bring it up as much as a third , then add a bit of saturation and I think it will give it a nice look. Well done.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Lovely Little Owl, such a treasure. I concur with Keith and David that the image appears a tad dark. Thank you for sharing, Steve.

[Steve Kaluski]

Interesting guys, as rarely I have this issue, however no problem many thanks

David, I've taken this up a third of a stop, but having to do this remotely, I've refrained from adding any Saturation as both light & time was pretty flat and overcast so I think it does reflect the time, but will look at the file next week again when I'm back home, cheers.

[keith mitchell]

Steve I still prefer the OP,you know me I like to see shots taken when conditions are not perfect and shows the skill of the photographer and IMHO also the conditions giving the viewer a peep of what it was like.

Keith.

[gail bisson]

I really like the repost as I too thought the image was a tad dark.
IQ is excellent and the perch is perfect for this comp.
Gail

[Karl Egressy]

Excellent IQ and eye contact on this image, Steve.

[Steve Kaluski]

Thanks Gail

Steve I still prefer the OP

Hi Keith, sometimes when we work on images we sometimes do not see some of the more subtle 'nuances' because we are so close to the image and a slight tweak just elevates the whole capture. Therefore, you need to take onboard certain comments like David's just to see, plus we ALL see things differently through a multitude of areas. This is why I always advocate never process an image straight away, wait at least 48hrs if not longer because you will see things in a totally different light & a fresh pair of eyes.

With a 'Global' change as per the RP it does change the subtle dynamics, especially in the subject so it might be a case of only addressing certain areas within the image, but still retaining a lot of the 'core' values, as I've said before, we are trying to convey a 2D image as a 3D and Mid tones are so key because that is where your detail is, but lights & darks also play a part too to create form & structure. Sadly I will, as I mentioned earlier will have to wait until the end of next week when I'm back home, but appreciate the reply, cheers.

[Steve Kaluski]

Thanks Karl, our postings overlapped.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Steve as always a pleasure to look at your LO images and this is no exception !!!
Love the posture of the owl and the stare it gave you and us .
Great techs as always and nicely processed ..... well it might be a tad too dark , depending on preferences of each one of us . I personally like the OP with nice deep tones and still have loads of detail . With your RP you have "lost "some of that nice depth in the tones specially in the HL and 1/4 tones .

So " my suggestion" would be open the exp by 1/2 a stop but through the inverted green channel to avoid the lightning take place in the lighter parts of the image .

Maestro WDYT ?

TFS Andreas

[Steve Kaluski]

Thanks Andreas, it's hard to tell on the laptop because it's quite subtle, good call on the green channel, blue would be too much, need to review next week.

Cheers.

[Andreas Liedmann]

My pleasure Steve , learnt that subtle thing from someone you might know , a clever british gentleman told me that

[Steve Kaluski]

LOL sometimes as you gain more knowledge you forget some of the more simpler, but effective tweaks.