Great grey owl

[Jonathan Ashton]

Tripod Canon 1DX Canon 500mm L IS II & 1.4 TC III ISO 5000, -0.3, 1/800 sec, f6.3
Taken in West Yellowstone, the weather turned and we had a spell of snow, this was the most patient bird I have ever known, I got a few hundred shots. It took a while to sift through, I used various shutter speeds going up to ISO 12800, many of the "best" had a snow flake over the eye! I even got some flight shots....flying away that is!
It is a vertical crop from a landscape image, I took both ways, this happened to be just after a short flight from one tree to another.
Due to the conditions I used Viveza on the background and Color efex on the bird so I am interested to see what you think.
All C&C welcome.

[Bill Dix]

This is a stunning image of a bird I would love to see some day. I like the processing of the bg, which looks almost Tiffany-esque in places. The bird is beautifully sharp with great detail, and his hunched pose works very nicely with the mood of the cold wet snow. My only question is how you processed the tree - Viveza or Color Efex, or other? The bird pops out just a little too much from the tree, to my eye. Maybe the tree just needs a tad more sharpening? I would love to have captured this.

[Mike Poole]

Beautiful bird, and I like the snowflakes, really adds some extra interest into the shot. I'm not too sure about the crop, feels a bit 'squeezed in' if that makes sense. Maybe worth experimenting with a couple of different options.

The owl has an interesting pose, I don't use the NIK suite so can't repay comment on the processing, but there is plenty of detail coming through.

Mike

p.s. early reports of an SEO at Lunt Meadows already - hopefully a good year

[Isaac Grant]

Bird looks sharp to me and I like the pose. I agree that the crop looks tight to me. Also why is the bird so white? Doesn't seem like snow, it just seems like a white great gray. If so then this is a completely aberrant bird or there is something wrong with the processing.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Jon, I really like this and the falling snow is a lovely addition to the capture, like Dale's images it just has so much atmosphere.

Due to the conditions I used Viveza on the background and Color efex on the bird so I am interested to see what you think.

The image has a warmth to it, however I feel it would be more colder and the BKG too smooth, therefore would you be able to process the file without the Third Party Software, as I think it's change the overall balance, look & feel, just my take on it Jon.

Still a cracking image.

TFS
Steve

[Jonathan Ashton]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Here is the "original" I have not used the dropper tool and neither have I used any Nik filters. I wondered if many people were going to say there is too much contrast between the owl and the background.

[Isaac Grant]

The gray tones of the bird look much more natural and true to me in the original. For me you have lightened the bird too much in your original post. Boy would I love a chance at one of these magnificent birds.

[Colin Driscoll]

The re-post is definitely the winner IMO. Magnificent bird.

[Tim Foltz]

Jonathan, nice shot of this beautiful owl, as far as the OP and re-post I'm somewhere in the middle of the two.

-Tim

[keith mitchell]

Jon it's a great shot ,the more natural looking repost is the one for me,think with the bg being stronger makes the bird stand out a lot better.Very envious of you being able to get this and well done for making such a good job of it.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Jon, I would stand in snow all day to just see this magnificent Owl - let alone to take a few shots of it. You have captured excellent feather detail on the Owl, and well timed for the perching moment. I cant comment on the colour of the Owl, as Ive never seen one, but in your repost, I feel the BG could be a touch lighter.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Thanks very much everyone, I have more so I will bare in mind your comments.
Bill:- Viveza to the background, TC/DE Nik filter to the bird. I suspect too much Viveza to the background and the highlights on the bird should have been reduced further prior to TC/DE

[Bill Dix]

Thanks for responding, Jonathan. I was referring to the tree trunk, which I assume you treated as part of the background (Viveza) and not as subject (i.e. bird)(Nik). So when you processed and sharpened the owl it made it pop out from the trunk. I will often consider the perch to be part of the subject. But since no one else commented on the separation of the two, it's obviously not a concern.

[William Dickson]

Very well done Jon. Something between the two images for my liking. Isn't it a great task going through all those images and finding better ones, then better ones

Great work and TFS

PS Just read Bills comments about the sep between the subject and the perch, and I can see where he is coming from

Will

[Jonathan Ashton]

Very well done Jon. Something between the two images for my liking. Isn't it a great task going through all those images and finding better ones, then better ones

Great work and TFS

PS Just read Bills comments about the sep between the subject and the perch, and I can see where he is coming from

Will

I think there is a temptation for me to use stuff becasue it is there and really the general maxim I try to abide by is to get it right in camera, doe as much as is required in raw and then do minimal work in Photoshop... I just need to remind myself sometimes!

[stuart wanuck]

very nice capture

[David Salem]

Great looking image Jonathan. I drove all around the Tetons looking for a nice GGO last year to no avail.
Glad you got a chance to get this guy. Looks good but I too would process this one in between the two. Well done

[Doug Brown]

Such an incredible bird! I would go for processing in between the two images, perhaps closer to the original capture than the first version you posted.