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Thread: Juvenile Burrowing Owl Portrait

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    Default Juvenile Burrowing Owl Portrait

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    I got this in Cape Coral Florida Wednesday morning. There was 7 owlets hopping around in the grass, looking for bugs. Someone placed a piece of driftwood nearby, hoping one might be curios and climb on for a shot elevated out of the grass. I waited for a while, then one finally did. I took a bunch of pics before it jumped off, this one is my favorite with the lifted foot and eye contact. Canon 7Dll and 100-400mm at 400mm, 1/2500,f9.0, 500iso, hand held, Lightroom.

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    Very nice really like that raised foot background is nice as well.

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    Really nice image Michael, great detail and composition, love the raised foot and the top section of the background which shows the face really well. TFS.


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    nice one

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    Lifetime Member gail bisson's Avatar
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    This is lovely!
    Great comp, lovely IQ and a terrific perch.
    I would crop up a bit from the bottom to get rid of horizontal bit of driftwood but still very nice a is!
    gail

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    Very nice Micheal! I think this is one of your better posts! Very nice pose and the soft BG with the grasses on the bottom looks great. The exposure and details look fantastic too. Very well done
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    Macro and Flora Moderator Jonathan Ashton's Avatar
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    Very nicely exposed and detailed, love the pose and the background. You must have a had a great time photographing the owlets, I look forward to more!

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    Lovely looking frame with great colours throughout. Love the pose and feather detail.

    Will

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    nicely done like the feet

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    Lovely image, Michael, everything came together nicely. Wish when I was down there I would have found the driftwood perch, all I saw was the wood crosses. Thank you for sharing.
    Joe Przybyla

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    You have captured the lovely softness of the feathers and still got some fine detail,I think this is lovely.

    Keith.

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    Thanks for all the positive comments everyone! It means a lot to me coming from this group of awesome people! Jonathan, yes I had a great time and got thousands of pics, but I spoiled it by posting, by far, my best one first Joseph, I had the same problem, ether ugly perches, or in the grass where their feet could not be seen. If I ever get to go back I will be bringing my own perches for them to check out

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    Lifetime Member Mike Poole's Avatar
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    Very very nice Michael, The pupils say the light must have ben bright, but the details have been very well handles. Great pose, and a definite winner.

    Mike

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    Hi Micheal, the pose is cool, but the dark brown plumage/face looks lifted (lightened) and now has a 'thin' appearance in the overall tonal depth. Just keep checking your Histogram and work on the ETTR principal, this will ensure a better file and reduce the amount of PP work. You must have been very close at 400mm, or is this a crop???

    TFS
    Steve

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    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Kaluski View Post
    Hi Micheal, the pose is cool, but the dark brown plumage/face looks lifted (lightened) and now has a 'thin' appearance in the overall tonal depth. Just keep checking your Histogram and work on the ETTR principal, this will ensure a better file and reduce the amount of PP work. You must have been very close at 400mm, or is this a crop???

    TFS
    Steve
    Hi Steve. Yes, it is cropped, for the portrait theme and some business in the forground. I do not understand the lifted or thin apperance thing, maybe it is my computer screen not picking it up? Anyone else notice it? the histogram looks balanced mostly in the middle. here is the original unedited image:

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    Hi Michael, in your PP of the image did you lighten the head/face? The colours and tones in the original look far better than the OP, for me there is no real Tonal depth and all the fine detail looks crunchy and bordering on over sharp. The original capture retains the softness, but the PP has flipped it to looking quite harsh. Without knowing the steps taken in your Workflow it's hard to pinpoint exact ares where you may like to consider 'pulling back' a little on those adjustments, this retaining a more softer/detailed look & feel. To me, based on the image in pane 15, the image needs very little PP, nice soft light, well exposed and just enough all round for that final cropping for presentation.

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    Hi Steve, I see what you are saying now, thanks for the more detailed explanation. I can see I went a little overboard with the clarity and sharpening. It seems that my images are always rendered soft on this forum, so I have been going nuts with the sharpness on the birds on the resized jpeg before posting.

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    Here is a repost with sharpening and clarity only done to the original file. All my processing is done in Adobe Light room cc.

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    Here is one with some sharpening added to the resized jpeg, but a lot less that the first pp... Looking forward to more feedback, thanks again...

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    It seems that my images are always rendered soft on this forum, so I have been going nuts with the sharpness on the birds on the resized jpeg before posting.
    Micheal, the website has no affect on the image, it only displays what you have uploaded. The only time things will change is if the image has an RGB embedded colour profile and you will get a colour shift, as all web postings and projected must have an sRGB colour profile.

    Are you cropping in LR, then Exporting via Lightroom?
    If so have you put in the final size within the Export i.e. 1000px high?
    Are you letting LR sharpen the output?
    What resolution are you using within the Export window?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Kaluski View Post
    Micheal, the website has no affect on the image, it only displays what you have uploaded. The only time things will change is if the image has an RGB embedded colour profile and you will get a colour shift, as all web postings and projected must have an sRGB colour profile.

    Are you cropping in LR, then Exporting via Lightroom?
    If so have you put in the final size within the Export i.e. 1000px high?
    Are you letting LR sharpen the output?
    What resolution are you using within the Export window?
    Hi Steve
    1, yes
    2, yes
    3. I don't think so, not sure I understand what that means.
    4. 236 pixles per square inch

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    Right folks,

    First issue:
    You must have your Camera Working Space set correctly, likewise your Raw convertor i.e. Adobe RGB. If you have you camera Working Space set to sRGB and Raw convertor to Adobe RGB you have made the first mistake, so set your camera Working space to RGB, NOT sRGB

    Looking at the RAW Micheal you could have gone +0.33EV it would have helped the black as it's a very small fraction clipped, but in no way a deal breaker. Adjusting Contrast (less), Highlights, Whites & Back begins to provide a greater platform to work in IMHO. You can the also use the Tonal Curve & HSL panel. You do also need to apply some 'Input' sharpening to the image along with, if applicable some Masking & Luminance/Colour noise reduction. If you the crop and Export via LR then you do need to apply sharpening to this - 'Output Sharpening' set within the panel. My feeling is if you are using the sharpening panel you are using way too much. If the RAW is sharp then really you really need not much.

    Having only LR is a handicap and so I would suggest you look at Adobe CC, get their package of LR & PSCC.

    Forget the WB, but this is a very quick rendition from the RAW and then Exported via LR using one of the preset Sharpening options.
    Last edited by Steve Kaluski; 05-11-2017 at 07:59 AM.

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    This is the same file Exported from LR but with PSCC sharpening applied.

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    BPN Member Glenn Conlan's Avatar
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    Interesting input from Steve, wish I understood it better. Levels and curve adjustments are my weakness. Great reposts from Steve on a great capture Michael. This is one of your best posts. I have many burrowing owl shots and this one is fantastic

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    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Kaluski View Post
    Right folks,

    First issue:
    You must have your Camera Working Space set correctly, likewise your Raw convertor i.e. Adobe RGB. If you have you camera Working Space set to sRGB and Raw convertor to Adobe RGB you have made the first mistake, so set your camera Working space to RGB, NOT sRGB

    Looking at the RAW Micheal you could have gone +0.33EV it would have helped the black as it's a very small fraction clipped, but in no way a deal breaker. Adjusting Contrast (less), Highlights, Whites & Back begins to provide a greater platform to work in IMHO. You can the also use the Tonal Curve & HSL panel. You do also need to apply some 'Input' sharpening to the image along with, if applicable some Masking & Luminance/Colour noise reduction. If you the crop and Export via LR then you do need to apply sharpening to this - 'Output Sharpening' set within the panel. My feeling is if you are using the sharpening panel you are using way too much. If the RAW is sharp then really you really need not much.

    Having only LR is a handicap and so I would suggest you look at Adobe CC, get their package of LR & PSCC.

    Forget the WB, but this is a very quick rendition from the RAW and then Exported via LR using one of the preset Sharpening options.
    Steve,

    I did have it set to sRGB in the menu under color space. I just switched it to RBG, I didn't even know I had those serttings...noob... the bad news, I have thousands and thousands of images taken with the wrong setting, the good news, now it is corrected and hopefully it means better images.

    I do have photoshop cc, but I was told lightroom is better for most things, so I have only used photoshop for things like the clone stamp tool, and adding canvas. Uh oh ... should I be doing more stuff with photoshop, I don't understand a lot of this, a little overwelming at my level...

    MT

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    Micheal,

    Just going back to the 'capture'.

    Unless you are going for more of a 'detailed/specific element' i.e. close up of an eye, or focusing is an issue due to foliage etc, I would just use the 'single point AF' rather than 'single point spot AF'. Also no real need to be shooting continuous high speed here, as you may find the shutter spooks the subject and you will fill your cards up quickly.

    I might have gone to f/11 because of the closeness to the subject and left the ISO because you had plenty of SS, although looking at the Histogram, upping the EV might have dropped it less than 1/1600 so I personally would have gone to ISO800 knowing DoF & SS would not be compromised and 800 is not an issue for the 7DMKII.

    The Raw is slightly soft, hence why you might have over sharpened. Now this might be through movement or your kit needs a slight tweak in calibration. Keep an eye on your Raws, if you still find them soft then I would contact Canon, especially if the camera & lens is new, as the can help you.

    Conversion:
    You want to do as much as you can within LR, this is the basis/platform/foundation for the image, this is where you 'build your house', PSCC is where you are able to do the fine 'painting & decorating' and the refinements. LR & PSCC work hand in hand and are seamless, you want to learn how to Convert your Raw, Edit in PSCC via LR and re import back into LR where you can Export your Tiff for end use. 98% of people only scrap the surface with PSCC and never really use the full potential and you don't need to, but Adjustment Layers, Masks, & Curves is something you need to build on. In addition calibrating your monitor once a month or when it tells you is also key, laptops maybe twice a month. Without having a calibrated monitor which is correctly set-up with the right values will also throw you.

    Yes, it can be over whelming, but keeping things simple in your Workflow, having Camera, Monitor and Software correctly in-line solves a lot of basic errors and will help in keeping a straight path.

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    Thanks for taking the time, and for all the great info Steve!

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