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Thread: Burrowing Owl #1

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    Avian Moderator Brian Sump's Avatar
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    Default Burrowing Owl #1

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    This morning was the first shoot with my D850. Have to say I really enjoyed it and although I didn't have it hooked up for 9fps yet, dealing with only 7 for now was worth it in low-light I think.


    I have been photographing these two Burrowing Owls for a few weeks but never felt like I had the skills to nail in-flight shots. They're a joy to watch and they let us get fairly close (staying in vehicle at refuge).


    It's still not up to my standards. I know it would have been better looking at the camera and wish I could get more feather detail but I think the downside to f4 with a 500mm is compressed dof, right?


    Feels a little drab but I didn't want to over-edit. Anyhow, fire away. Eager to grow...


    Nikon D850
    Sigma 500 f4
    Handheld (mild brace on edge of car window)


    ISO 2800
    f4
    1/2500
    ~35% crop


    Edited in C1P and final in PS. Couple tiny twigs removed.


    PS - there was one more good one. I waffled as to which to post first; #2 coming tomorrow.

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    Avian Moderator Brian Sump's Avatar
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    And one with a shadows and highlights adjustment layer. A little more color...

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    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
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    Hi Brian ... for the sake of my interest , what is in your eyes a shadow/ highlight adjustment layer . Hopefully you are not talking about the SH/HL tool in PS .... working on a pixel layer ??? If so I would stay away from it .... it is too aggressive IMHO .

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    Super Moderator arash_hazeghi's Avatar
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    Hi Brian, this is a very good frame, not that many people can get a sharp shot of a flying BO. so you are ahead of many already and should be really happy with this frame. you got great eye contact and a very good approach angle plus a nice BG. all of this makes this image worthwhile to process to perfection

    the image has a slight magenta cast from the low light as we can see in the dilated pupils. I would warm it up a tad and try to recover just a tad more in highlights. The D850 is a great camera overall, it's a bit slow for action but the image quality makes up for it. At some point it will be worth looking at the D5 which has the cleanest files and speed in one package.

    F/4 is the correct setting and way to go for flight, you will find that the world'a best and most experienced BIF photographers always shoot wide open to gain max shutter speed. you need the head to be sharp which is the case here. With more luck you will also get banking shots where you can get the entire top side sharp and detailed. you did well here

    TFS
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    Lifetime Member gail bisson's Avatar
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    This is a very nice frame. It is really hard to get these in flight.
    I see a magenta cast to the image- easy fix.
    The repost has a bit more life to it (more color and contrast) and it looks better.
    Nice and sharp.
    I really like the bits of grass in the talons.
    Gail

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    Great pose with nest liner in the talons and a great view of that face/eyes. TFS

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    Avian Moderator Brian Sump's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by arash_hazeghi View Post
    Hi Brian, this is a very good frame, not that many people can get a sharp shot of a flying BO. so you are ahead of many already and should be really happy with this frame. you got great eye contact and a very good approach angle plus a nice BG. all of this makes this image worthwhile to process to perfection

    the image has a slight magenta cast from the low light as we can see in the dilated pupils. I would warm it up a tad and try to recover just a tad more in highlights. The D850 is a great camera overall, it's a bit slow for action but the image quality makes up for it. At some point it will be worth looking at the D5 which has the cleanest files and speed in one package.

    F/4 is the correct setting and way to go for flight, you will find that the world'a best and most experienced BIF photographers always shoot wide open to gain max shutter speed. you need the head to be sharp which is the case here. With more luck you will also get banking shots where you can get the entire top side sharp and detailed. you did well here

    TFS
    Ari good to hear. I reduced Magenta (increased Cyan) +5 and it seemed to help.

    I read a ton and decided the 850 was a good step in the right direction. As I improve, perhaps a D5 and eventually a 600mm will be in my arsenal.

    Thanks for the comments as always.

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    Avian Moderator Brian Sump's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by gail bisson View Post
    This is a very nice frame. It is really hard to get these in flight.
    I see a magenta cast to the image- easy fix.
    The repost has a bit more life to it (more color and contrast) and it looks better.
    Nice and sharp.
    I really like the bits of grass in the talons.
    Gail
    Gail appreciate your comments. I made a +5 toward Cyan adjustment.

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hi Brian, it's all been said, but if I could get a flight shot like this with my Little owls I would be very happy, but they are super fast and no way can you get them in flight, nor does the habitat allow for this.

    I would say the cast is stemming from your WB and the Tint slider, nothing to do with any other colours within the HSL panel. No idea what you use for your raw conversion, but if you are able to make a virtual copy and start afresh then that would be good. Taking the OP, to get a md starting point you are looking at Temp +6 Tint -39, now this then pushes the whole image out, but then you may have adjusted the colours in PP anyway, hence why I say that if you make a copy and get the mid point right, colours will undoubtably will be better with the Raw and you will illuminate any colour casts.

    TFS
    Steve
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    Avian Moderator Brian Sump's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Kaluski View Post
    Hi Brian, it's all been said, but if I could get a flight shot like this with my Little owls I would be very happy, but they are super fast and no way can you get them in flight, nor does the habitat allow for this.

    I would say the cast is stemming from your WB and the Tint slider, nothing to do with any other colours within the HSL panel. No idea what you use for your raw conversion, but if you are able to make a virtual copy and start afresh then that would be good. Taking the OP, to get a md starting point you are looking at Temp +6 Tint -39, now this then pushes the whole image out, but then you may have adjusted the colours in PP anyway, hence why I say that if you make a copy and get the mid point right, colours will undoubtably will be better with the Raw and you will illuminate any colour casts.

    TFS
    Steve
    Steve I would be willing to start again with RAW to get it right.

    Here are my options in Capture One Pro and the temp/tone were exactly as shot - I did not edit them. Suggestions?

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Steve I would be willing to start again with RAW to get it right.
    A great mentality Brian, it's the only way to learn in my book.

    Sadly Brian, I left C1 way back in around 2008 (I think, well a long time ago), because I migrated from Canon's DPP, to C1, then Adobe raw and now, I'm too entrenched in LR since about 2007/8 and learning my way with another raw converter, similar to C1 Pro, but without the price tag! So sadly to guide you through via C1 I can't, LR is a different matter, but you don't have LR, so I'm sure Arash can give some major points hopefully. My only bit would be, keep your workflow simple and don't get bogged down with Third party stuff. Once you have stuff under your belt then go for it and explore, but knowing what the changes you do to an image and the ramifications to it, the better equipped you are to process the image. Ramping up Contrast is a killer.

    Good luck and if I can help I will do.

    Cheers
    Steve
    Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.

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    Avian Moderator Brian Sump's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Kaluski View Post
    A great mentality Brian, it's the only way to learn in my book.

    Sadly Brian, I left C1 way back in around 2008 (I think, well a long time ago), because I migrated from Canon's DPP, to C1, then Adobe raw and now, I'm too entrenched in LR since about 2007/8 and learning my way with another raw converter, similar to C1 Pro, but without the price tag! So sadly to guide you through via C1 I can't, LR is a different matter, but you don't have LR, so I'm sure Arash can give some major points hopefully. My only bit would be, keep your workflow simple and don't get bogged down with Third party stuff. Once you have stuff under your belt then go for it and explore, but knowing what the changes you do to an image and the ramifications to it, the better equipped you are to process the image. Ramping up Contrast is a killer.

    Good luck and if I can help I will do.

    Cheers
    Steve
    Fair enough. Thanks Steve :-)

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    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
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    Hi Brian ... as far as , what I have heard .... you did well in getting this shot .
    Works for me as presented in terms of content .... you have received good advice regarding tone and color .

    Very nice work and TFS Andreas

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    Love the pose with the out streched wings. Nice to see the mud i assume.

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    BPN Member dankearl's Avatar
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    Nice Brian, color looks fine to me. Eyes and focus are terrific.
    BG and setting is contest stuff.
    Dan Kearl

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    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
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    Attached Images Attached Images
     
    I love it. What is it carrying? For the repost, I simply ran a 35% layer of Auto Tone reduced the MAGNETA saturation.

    with love, artie
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    Avian Moderator Brian Sump's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Arthur Morris View Post
    I love it. What is it carrying? For the repost, I simply ran a 35% layer of Auto Tone reduced the MAGNETA saturation.

    with love, artie
    Artie, he's carrying some nesting material - a clump of dirt and roots I think.

    Thanks for submitting the edit - curious what editing tool you made the adjustments in please?

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    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Sump View Post
    Artie, he's carrying some nesting material - a clump of dirt and roots I think.

    Thanks for submitting the edit - curious what editing tool you made the adjustments in please?

    Thanks. Both in Photoshop: Auto Tone is under Image. And then reduce to Opacity of that Layer using the slider. or removing the MAGENTA, put the image on a layer, hit Command U for Hue-Saturation on a layer, selected MAGENTA from the droop-down menu, and moved the Saturation slider to the left to -35.

    Better late than never :(

    with love, artie
    Last edited by Arthur Morris; 11-23-2020 at 06:04 AM.
    BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.

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    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
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    ps: I rarely reduce the CONTRAST during a RAW conversion. And when I do that, it is never BY more than a few points. And the same goes for increasing the contrast. I would think that -32 was a rookie mistake.

    with love, artie
    BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.

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