What's For Dinner

[Jerry Taylor]

This Great Horned Owl found a perch near where I was BBQ'ing burgers. I quickly grabbed my 7DII that had the 100-400II already on it and fired a couple of shots before he decided to exit the area. I was in AV, 1/400 @ f5.6, ISO 800. Processed in DPP4 and Lightroom. I really like the background of the late evening light on the mountains, but was curious about thoughts regarding the split in the colors. Things in the way wouldn't allow me to get lower to change that.

[Bob Smith]

Good reaction Jerry---shows how it can pay off to always have your gear ready to hand when out and about. I really like your BG here and you got the eyes looking at you perfectly dead-on, although I'm not sure that focus on the eyes is 100% .

[Roger Smith]

Lovely image! Absolutely fantastic to be prepared and ready to take advantage of such a lovely visitor. He wanted one of those burgers im guessing ;-) My only comment might be to consider a bit of sharpening and added clarity on the eyes.

[William Dickson]

Well captured Jerry, a great opportunity well taken. Lovely detail on the bird and he even chose a nice perch with a good BG. Whats not to like. Well done.

Will

[Bill Dix]

Welcome to BPN. What an amazing opportunity, and a great first post. I like the layered background, and the pose and perch are great (except for the cut branches that are a bit less than ideal, but no biggie). I agree with a bit of sharpening of the eyes, and maybe the ears if the detail is there -- may be a DOF issue). It feels just a bit tight in the frame to me, if you have a little more room.

[Alex Becker]

Pretty killer first post -- so jealous of this sighting and frame. The best I've ever gotten while cooking burgers are some angry bees . I also love the layered BG with the pink clouds. I agree with some more sharpening on the face. I would also do some noise reduction on the BG if you're using photoshop as I can see some grain in the greens especially. TFS a lovely frame

[Glenn Conlan]

Wish I could capture one of these, great BG, agree with others about the sharpness and a little tight all around

[Jerry Taylor]

Thanks for the comments, much appreciated. One of the comments indicated a bit tight, and I agree. I had cropped for use as a notecard, and forgot to open the crop back up for this post (my bad). I also agree with the comments regarding noise reduction and eye sharpening. I'm still pretty unsophisticated regarding noise reduction and sharpening, but am trying to learn. I guess that is why I am here. Thanks again.

[Glenn Pure]

Jerry, I can't add anything to the comments already but do love that background (and a little NR there will help it a lot). Of course, the bird is a stunner and nicely rendered in this frame. Thanks for sharing.

[David Salem]

First off welcome to BPN and second of all the great find!! I've been shooting for a long time and I still have not gotten a great shot of a horned owl. Great looking setting and I really like the background. Yes to some noise reduction and yes to some sharpening on the bird but otherwise looks great

[arash_hazeghi]

Welcome to BPN and a great post, with a sweet portrait of this handsome GHO. I agree with more NR on the BG, a bit more sharpening and a bit more room around if you have it

TFS

[Arthur Morris]

Beautiful bird on a great perch. Sharp with lovely pink in the sky. Our experts above have commented on the need for NR on the BKGR. I use NeatImage as detailed in the Professional Post Processing Guide(s) by Arash and I.

In general, 50-50 backgrounds like the one in your image should be avoided at all costs. If you can post a JPEG that represents the full frame original image I might be able to come up with a suggestion or two :)

with love, arite