Florida Burrowing Owlet with Lizard

[Joseph Przybyla]

I captured this image in early May on Marco Island, Florida. Comments and critique welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for viewing.

Nikon D500
Nikon 80-400mm F/4.5-5.6 VRII AF-S ED shot at 320mm
1/1000 F/8 Matrix Metering EV 0 ISO 400 AWB, camera supported by a monopod
Post processed in Lightroom CC and Photoshop CC 2017
Cropped for composition and presentation

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Joe, I like the placement and the fact you can see the lizard slowly disappearing.

I feel the light was quite harsh and so I might try to address the exposure certainly in the FG to get some more depth within the image. I also think you needed more SS as the detail appears lacking in the head, so I wonder if there was some slight movement, especially compared to some of your recent postings????

TFS
Steve

[John Mack]

Agree with Steve about the light. Still cool shot of this owl with a lizard.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Hi Joe, I like the placement and the fact you can see the lizard slowly disappearing.

I feel the light was quite harsh and so I might try to address the exposure certainly in the FG to get some more depth within the image. I also think you needed more SS as the detail appears lacking in the head, so I wonder if there was some slight movement, especially compared to some of your recent postings????

TFS
Steve

Hi Steve, thank you for viewing and commenting. I read your post and visited the image again. I started after the conversion of the RAW file to the 16 bit TIFF. I reduced a very slight amount of noise which let me increase the sharpening on the bird without artifacts. I added a small reverse S curve to tone down the harsh light (8:40 AM in Florida), about an hour and a half after sunrise. I burnt the foreground to tone down that area where the sand and detritus is. After that I sharpened the bird, increasing the sharpening and carefully masking. Here is a repost of the image.

[Arthur Morris]

Hey Joe, The repost is definitely an improvement. I do not think that there would be any motion blur at 1/1000 sec. with an image like this ...

with love, artie

[Steve Kaluski]

Certainly an improvement Joe, remember you can vary amounts of exposure and placement, so it doesn't have to be Global, as you try to create a '3D' effect from a 2D capture. Happy to look at it More, if you want to fire it off?

I do not think that there would be any motion blur at 1/1000 sec. with an image like this ...

Artie I just thought being on a mono pod there may have been a slight movement, as the 'critical' sharpness is lacking on the head. Joe has posted some cracking, 'sharp' images recently hence my thought.

[Arthur Morris]

Hey Steve, Good point on the monopod; I just don't get them ...

with love, artie

[Joseph Przybyla]

Hey Steve, Good point on the monopod; I just don't get them ...

with love, artie

Hi Artie, I have you by four years in age so the body is not what it once was. Also about ten years ago I was diagnosed with a auto-immune disease that causes weak muscles with repeated activity, Myasthenia Gravis ( the reason I had to stop playing golf). So I go with the lightest rig I can capture good images with, small crop body and a zoom lens. Handholding I have trouble keeping the focus point in the correct spot. The monopod allows me to hold the focus point while it supports the weight of the camera. Also I like to move when photographing, whether walking to find a subject or moving to get ahead of a bird as it may walk along the surf line. The monopod also allows me to try different angles and heights for the best image. Anyways, thanks for all the help and advice you share... hoping this explains why I do things a little differently.

Best Regards, Joe

[Steve Kaluski]

Thanks Joe for the very 'personal' and frank insight.

Just a thought, but have you tried resting the foot of the Monopod on your foot, you may find it helps, obviously at the front part . You may find it steady's things more and overall, more stable, however I'm sure your own technique that works, tried and tested over the years.

Once again, many thanks

[Bill Dix]

Nice capture, by you and the owl. The lizard definitely a plus. Repost helps.

[Geoffrey Montagu]

Neat dining capture, Joe. Like the clenched talon as he is about to assist with it, or already has, in eating the lizard. Nice job on the repost.

Geoffrey




http://http://500px.com/geoffreymontagu

[Joseph Przybyla]

Thanks everyone for viewing, commenting and suggesting improvements. I kept working on the image, tweaking here and there, revisiting the sharpening etc.. Here is as good as I think it can be. They say three's a charm. Thanks again everyone.

[Arthur Morris]

Hi Artie, I have you by four years in age so the body is not what it once was. Also about ten years ago I was diagnosed with a auto-immune disease that causes weak muscles with repeated activity, Myasthenia Gravis ( the reason I had to stop playing golf). So I go with the lightest rig I can capture good images with, small crop body and a zoom lens. Handholding I have trouble keeping the focus point in the correct spot. The monopod allows me to hold the focus point while it supports the weight of the camera. Also I like to move when photographing, whether walking to find a subject or moving to get ahead of a bird as it may walk along the surf line. The monopod also allows me to try different angles and heights for the best image. Anyways, thanks for all the help and advice you share... hoping this explains why I do things a little differently.

Best Regards, Joe

Hi Joe, Thanks for the e-mail. If you'd like to get in touch with my health guy via Skype in San Diego shoot me an e-mail. He is way, way, way smarter than all the Western medicine docs ...

with love, artie

ps: the first 30-minute consult is free if you mention my name :)