Snowbound sunset

[Jake Levin]

This is the same female snowy owl as usual. She's more than happy to pose. I'm not sure I post-processed correctly as I'm fairly new to sunset shots, so let me have it with the brightness/contrast/color balance etc! The blowing snow was a definite challenge.

The skinny: Canon 7d mkII, Sigma 150-600, 1/320 @ f/6.3, ISO 800, Av mode.
Converted in DPP
Leveled, levels-adjusted, and eyes dodged in Photoshop.

[arash_hazeghi]

I like the environment ands the sunset but the dark eyes work against this shot IMO, the snowy owl is all about the eyes and I find it difficult to make attractive images when the eyes are in the shade

TFS

[Alex Becker]

Hi Jake, I agree with Arash re: the shade. I also feel like 1/320 wasn't quite enough shutter speed for this, although I don't know canon gear very well. The sunset is very nice on this -- it must've been quite the sight to see!

[David Seymour]

Hi Jake,
I reckon you could improve the rendition of the owl by selecting only the bird then doing some shadow enhancement or brightness-contrast enhancements. Below is a quick attempt to suggest what might be possible. Selection was with Photoshop polygon selection tool at high magnification, then a Levels layer used to brighten the bird, then the layer feathered near the base of the bird by painting on the mask with black and 50% opacity. Eyes were then selected and brightened using shadows only in Shadows/Highlight control.

[William Dickson]

The sunset look with the surrounding shadows look real good. Love the light coming through the head feathers. David's repost is better on the bird. Very nice frame Jake. Well done considering the conditions.

Will

[Jake Levin]

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I have edited the master file and come up with this:

[David Seymour]

Nice work on the re-processing, Jake! You've managed to bring the owl up really nicely, yet the overall shot still looks totally natural. Well done!