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The owl on the right looks sharper than the other owl, wish it was looking directly at you.
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I like your image. I would have expected to find this bg distracting but the color of the owls stands out enough. The moss on the perch adds as does the catchlight in the eyes and the ruffed feathers. TFS.
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Thanks John. They were not in the same plane.
Mike
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Super Moderator
excellent image of the pair, love the moss too. there are crescent-like some cloning artifacts near the top edge. yes it would have been ideal if both were looking at the camera and i'd sharpen both owls a bit more, especially the left one. A great image overall TFS
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Excellent image. Agree with Arash comments.
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Macro and Flora Moderator
Very nice image, I would suggest it is just a tad oversaturated WDYT, I suspect the weather conditions had a lot to do with this.
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Originally Posted by
arash_hazeghi
excellent image of the pair, love the moss too. there are crescent-like some cloning artifacts near the top edge. yes it would have been ideal if both were looking at the camera and i'd sharpen both owls a bit more, especially the left one. A great image overall TFS
Thanks Jonathan, Jay and Arash
I will try a re-edit.
Mike
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I agree that it is very nice to have both birds in the frame and you have already gotten great suggestions. Also agree with Jonathan that the birds look over saturated and don't have the soft and natural appearance that they should have.
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Thanks Isaac. I did try to make the owls pop from the busy baskground.
Mike
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I understand the urge to do that with these birds but in this case I think it is a mistake. The thing with owls is that they are masters of disguise and are such cryptic birds. They can be practically invisible when they are right under your nose. I think you would have a stronger image if you embraced that and let them blend in to the background more.
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Wildlife Moderator
Hi Mike, I assume that these are 'Captive' as per your previous posting from the Workshop day, therefore please can you remember to add (C) in the title prior to posting.
Thanks.
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Wildlife Moderator
Guys, both of you have valid points, however here I feel that as these are captive, taking the ‘Wild’ approach won’t work. As the image was taken in a ‘Workshop environment' the subjects will be perch in good light hopefully, highly visible and to a degree, placed within a habit that has very limited distracting elements, if any, so poles apart from the Wild. Shooting in the wild as Issac said, more often they are hidden, low/shady light, not in ideal locations and invariably with distracting branches/vegetation, highlights etc surrounding them, having spent the last 7 years photographing Little Owls I know how difficult thy can be. Workshops are there to maximise photographing these subjects in the best way possible, because it is all controlled and so folk can hopefully capture ‘killer’ portraits and if done right, build on their camera skills, correct advice on settings, where to stand/PoV etc.
Sadly the conditions on the day were not ideal, but… I think here the choice of lens was wrong, having the two owls together you needed to be further back to try to get them both in focus, or as sharp as possible and with a greater DoF. A longer lens with more DoF may have been better, you could have used a tripod and so ISO, SS & DoF could have been honed more too and less of an issue compared to HH. Personally I would have said to the handler use only one Tawny, far better, would look better (more natural) and you could then revert back to a smaller lens. Looking at the OP and taking onboard your previous reply Re: Little Owls I would look at Double Processing the image (if needed) so you address the environment and then the Owls, as presented I feel the processing of the image overall needs refining. A lot of the fine detail within the plumage is lost and lacks the clarity/definition you would expect at that distance and there is a hint of a blue colour cast coming through within the whites. If this is FF rather than cropped then you needed more DoF even just for the LH owl which I assume you focused on as you were I guess within feet of the subjects?
Mike if you care to fire off the RAW to me I will gladly take a look and come back with some more thoughts. It cannot be a Tiff as some folk get confused with supplying images, that's pointless because you are so limited in what you can do, you might as well use the OP, the RAW is key, plus I can see the Camera settings too which may also shed some light on the image - your call.
As I shoot Canon and process in LR/PS it will be parallel to you.
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Originally Posted by
Steve Kaluski
Mike if you care to fire off the RAW to me I will gladly take a look and come back with some more thoughts. It cannot be a Tiff as some folk get confused with supplying images, that's pointless because you are so limited in what you can do, you might as well use the OP, the RAW is key, plus I can see the Camera settings too which may also shed some light on the image - your call.
As I shoot Canon and process in LR/PS it will be parallel to you.
Hi Steve
I was about 1.5 meters from the Owls as I wanted to throw the busy background OOF as much as I could. I did not think that one of the owls would have gone OOF as I thought my aperture setting would have been OK.
I would be interested is seen and learning from your edit.
Mike
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Wildlife Moderator
Mike, the closer you are, the more DoF is required. To throw the BKG out, the distance between subject and 'bushes' at that distance would need to be much greater. A larger lens like a 500 would have thrown the BKG out a bit more through compression.
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Wildlife Moderator
OK Mike, just got the file and before I did anything the first thing I checked was your camera settings and in 2 months (and you are not alone) all ten folk who have sent me RAW's files have their Camera Working Space is sRGB - why?????
Firstly change your camera settings to Adobe RGB and LR Working space to Adobe RGB, you ONLY use sRGB for web or PI. Until you change these settings all the images will not have the 'real' content for processing. So anything taken up until now I would keep as 'record'.
I will however try to process the file, but I will not sadly have the full data capacity compared to a RAW RGB file.
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Originally Posted by
Steve Kaluski
OK Mike, just got the file and before I did anything the first thing I checked was your camera settings and in 2 months (and you are not alone) all ten folk who have sent me RAW's files have their Camera Working Space is sRGB - why?????
Firstly change your camera settings to Adobe RGB and LR Working space to Adobe RGB, you ONLY use sRGB for web or PI. Until you change these settings all the images will not have the 'real' content for processing. So anything taken up until now I would keep as 'record'.
I will however try to process the file, but I will not sadly have the full data capacity compared to a RAW RGB file.
Steve well thats new to me! I thought sRGB was good for web and prints. When you say ''full data capacity'', do you mean colour range/space? I need to investigate this further.
Mike
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Wildlife Moderator
I thought sRGB was good for web
Yes, sRGB is Industry standard for web or PI (Projected Image), however if you shoot RAW and want to 'Process' your images then Adobe RGB is the Working Space you want for both Camera & LR, you ONLY convert to sRGB after processing, but Save AS, not Save otherwise you will over right all that you have don to a file with only 256 colours (web).
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Wildlife Moderator
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Originally Posted by
Steve Kaluski
Mike, Camera setting to change:
Colour Space:o Adobe RGB
Metering Mode: Evaluated
Cases: Learn what they do they will help especially BIF
Focus Area selection Single, multiple etc, Spot is TOO specific here, buy Artie's Guide to 5DMKIII AF
The image is well exposed, sharpness could be improved but if an Adobe RGB file and LR has the correct Working Space then may need to reassess
This is Processed through the Modules of LR, exported to PS for a few Curves adjustments then Exported/sharpened from the 16bit Tiff via LR to 1200px wide as an sRGB web file. Colour is personal and as I was not there so I can only make an assumption.
Cheers
Steve
Thanks for your edit Steve. There is definately some improved detail in the feathers. I am keen to learn the processes you used to acheve this improvement.
As expected I have a few more questions:
Metering Mode:
Is Center Weighted or Partial Mode usefull? The bird would represent a small central part of the frame most times. Most times I would have to crop into the bird. Would the overall frame exposure not dominate the metering and produce an inacurate exposure for the bird?
Adobe RGB vs sRGB:
Can you point me in the way of any resurces to read further: online or otherwise?
Canon AF:
I found this online resource helpful so far. I have changed to case 4 for BIF with tracking set to -2 (more stickey), AF switching +2, Accel/Decell trackinh +2.
http://www.firstlighttours.com/5d3birds_tutorial.html
Mike
Mike
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Wildlife Moderator
There is definately some improved detail in the feathers. I am keen to learn the processes you used to acheve this improvement.
Mike unless I am doing a 121, I tend not to write definitive Worflows for LR, as you can appreciate, a lot of the knowledge we gain is built up over time, attending Software courses, Canon open days (with geeks 
) etc and just to provide that free I feel reluctant to do. My advice would be to look at a really good book on LR for Digital Photographers, plenty on Amazon. If they are good, then they will walk you through from 'Cradle to Grave' in simple terms, no 'geek' jargon and you can go at your own pace. Nothing I have done here is rocket science, it is just a case of understanding what each Module does, however the hardest part IMHO is to understand what each image requires, as no two images are the same
Metering Mode:
Is Center Weighted or Partial Mode usefull? The bird would represent a small central part of the frame most times. Most times I would have to crop into the bird. Would the overall frame exposure not dominate the metering and produce an inacurate exposure for the bird?
You want to avoid hefty cropping full stop as IQ is lost. Meter does not play a part, refer to the Manual p167 for clarification of the Metering system. I stick to Evaluate for 99% and rarely change.
Adobe RGB vs sRGB:
Can you point me in the way of any resurces to read further: online or otherwise?
Mike it's quite simple. If you wish to Process your images then shoot Adobe RGB, Process in RGB. You only use sRGB for web because of the limited colour space. If you just want snaps without processing then shoot JPEG sRGB and a 'Point & Shoot' camera. Adobe RGB is the only way to shoot.
No idea on the link Mike, but if you wish to do BIF and want to know about Case settings then I strongly suggest to look here and then purchase Arash's Guide http://www.arihazeghiphotography.com/Guides/
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Thanks Steve. My process in LR for bringing out details and textures on a subject is to use an adjustment brush with some clarity and sharpness.
Reading this Adobe RGB vs sRGB has caused my brain to swell. I have will have to let it all settle in for a bit.
Mike
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Wildlife Moderator
Reading this Adobe RGB vs sRGB has caused my brain to swell. I have will have to let it all settle in for a bit.
It's a NO Brainer Mike, just change it!!!!
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