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Thread: LEO male portarit

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    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
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    Default LEO male portarit

    Attached Images Attached Images
     
    Hi folks ... the LEO´s still around .
    Mostly difficult to get clear shots , so this morning I was lucky ... got the male quite open .
    The greenery is a bit unfortunate but unavoidable .... otherwise I had bright patches of sky in the BG .
    He was sitting just 2.5 meters above the ground , no ladder needed this time .... was sitting there relaxed till the neighbors dogs came , off he went

    Canon EOS 1dx III
    EF 500 IS L II + 1,4 TC III
    HH

    F 6,3 ; Iso 6400 ; 1/1600 sec

    Processed with DPP 4 and PSCC 2021 ; cropped to 75 % of FF .... the crop can be discussed , maybe going 4x5 would work better .

    Thanks for looking and commenting to my previous posting

    Cheers Andreas

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    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
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    You did well in a difficult situation at a usual awkward distance (as far as image design is concerned). What you needed was the neighbor's dog between your legs barking so the owl opened its eyes and stared at you both!

    with love, arite
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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    I can appreciate how difficult these shots are, plus you have no control as such to the habitat either. The eyes are to die for Andreas, just wished the right eye as view was full open, but hey... Are the green leaves a tad distracting, personal taste for me although taking the colour may help? What I do see is how you have really smoothed out the BKG which is surprising???? Regarding the crop, yes a tighter crop I think helps, Just feel there is too much body, so its either tighter or shooting wide and having the whole subject in, but again the habitat may have dictated.

    MK3 hey, I thought you were sitting on the fence, was this shot mechanical or electronic, don't you find the files cleaner and the colour more authentic, easier/quicker to process?

    TFS
    Steve

    PS Blowing in some colour may help the brighter streaks in the BKG?
    Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.

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    Lifetime Member Stu Bowie's Avatar
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    Hi Andreas, a great subject to capture in your files. I really like the detail on the face, and the eyes show up nicely. Although we have take where ever are subjects are perched with regards to surrounding elements of BG, I would have cropped up leaving just the top row of leaves in this frame.

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    I agree about the points made and I can also see the dodging you did in the BG to limit the brightness. I like the eye color it really pops and also love the floppy ears. Nice job with the challenges you had.

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    Lifetime Member Mike Poole's Avatar
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    A much stronger image than before due to the shooting angles. What a great opportunity this is - make the most of it!

    Mike

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    Great eye and feather detail, perfect exposure well done

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    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
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    Thanks so much folks for your kind comments and suggestions , much appreciated .

    Artie ... your suggestion with the dog is somewhat not ideal , I can greatly live with the gaze facing to the left . Just wish the right eye a bit more open . The Owl actually had the eyes even more closed most of the time .... regardless of my presence . And the result with the dog .... was flying off , within seconds .

    Steve - well as said the leaves are distracting , good call on changing hue and saturation . I have wider shots as well .... but eyes mostly more closed and more distracting elements in the frame . Will post later . No smoothing of the BG , apart from my normal NR routine . I just did some D&B to the BG via a 50% grey layer ( soft light ) through a red channel mask . MK III .... not on the fence , I am having it more than a year . Barely used it . Shot with mechanical shutter .... so far I am struggling to work with the electronic shutter . No idea how to shoot with the electronic shutter when handholding that rig . I never complained about my files from all of my 1D cameras , if I had to it was my faults .... due to bad exposure . For sure with every new model the file quality went up a notch ....
    The only thing is , that the MK III files are painfully slow to process in DPP ....

    Kurt - wondering how you can see where I dodged ??

    Cheers Andreas

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    I like the look here with the one eye half open. Owls are tough, espcially with the setting they are ususally in.

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    Avian Moderator Brian Sump's Avatar
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    Andreas, probably my fave of the series. Your patience paid off.... dang dogs :-/

    I can't suggest much of anything on the subject, just gorgeous. Love the eyes and such sweet detail. Yeah, it's a conundrum but if you had the dreamy bkg you could maybe sacrifice for one or two more stops for depth and get even the beak. But I totally understand your techs here.

    RE the bkg, yeah a bit of a bummer but interesting suggestion by Steve. I'd love to see if that helps.

    Thanks for sharing amigo!

    PS - whatever you did on the bkg afa noise reduction or not, I love it as is in terms of noise!

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hi Andreas, not sure why the files are slow to process, never have an issue in LR and time is the same, they are certainly sweeter and any noise is fantastic and it locks on far quicker than the R5. In this situation forget electronic, stick to mechanical, otherwise you my injure yourself, but just keep frame rate down, the LEO should then get used to it and then over time you can revert to short bursts. It never spooked the Little owls last year even at 3m away, but with the Tawny it had to be electronic and easy to do as it was all set on a tripod with a remote, but worth doing for the huge surprise a day later!!!! I know light was a premium, but just watch the DoF, personally I think you are on the cusp here, if light falls on your side think about f/8 or 9. Any breeze will soften the gorgeous plumage so like the Musk Ox keep SS high.

    On a lighter note - I will warn you now, you shoot this owl over the next few days, spending the whole day with him, you will find they are very 'soporific', so you can find yourself, nodding off during the long periods of zero action.

    Good luck and think about that FP.
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    Love those eyes.... they say... "I could care less... you go ahead and get your lousy picture." TFS.

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    BPN Member dankearl's Avatar
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    It is a nice subject but there are about a billion birds in the world. I would personally not bother with the BG and FG distractions as they are.
    Spend time finding subjects in better surroundings..
    Go find another bird..
    Dan Kearl

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    Macro and Flora Moderator Jonathan Ashton's Avatar
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    Andreas I think this is a super image, no point going on about foliage etc I think we all have reservations about perceived distractions and imperfections, the comments are very repetitive now relating to portraits. Most are saying if this wasn't there it would be better or if the head angle was different - well it wasn't and I am darned sure if there was anything practical to be done about it then you would have!
    I think it is showing the owl very accurately in terms of appearance, my only suggestion - (yes now I am repetitive) might be to reduce the colour of those leaves - a good tip, in fact it worked on my previous post in this forum.

    Dan your comments are direct, I appreciate everyone has their own point of view and opinion..... but I would suggest in relation to your last line a little more tact would be seen as being more constructive and polite as opposed to dismissive.

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    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
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    Thanks John , Brian , Jay and Jon for your comments , much appreciated .

    Brian - I tried Steve´s suggestion and he was so kind to send me a " demo " .... for me it did not work really . So I keep the distractions as part of nature .... but could work a bit more on making them less obvious . For me the subject is interesting enough ... just my take . For sure I would have wished for more separation .

    Jay - right on the money .

    Jon - agree with your thoughts .


    Cheers Andreas

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    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by dankearl View Post
    It is a nice subject but there are about a billion birds in the world. I would personally not bother with the BG and FG distractions as they are.
    Spend time finding subjects in better surroundings..
    Go find another bird..
    Special thanks to you , for your very valuable feedback ... will leave the Owls alone, as they are boring and not following my commands , stupid as they are

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    BPN Member dankearl's Avatar
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    "Dan your comments are direct, I appreciate everyone has their own point of view and opinion..... but I would suggest in relation to your last line a little more tact would be seen as being more constructive and polite as opposed to dismissive."

    Jon, I am not dismissive or did not mean to be.
    I am just pointing out that these are not pleasing images because the surroundings are terrible. I walk past birds all the time
    that are not on the right perches, are not in attractive setting and I move on.
    That is bird photography.... this is a critique site.
    i don't understand attempting to shoot a subject that is just not cooperating.,, sometimes I cant get on the right side of the light... I dont shoot and move on...
    I with they all were on nice perches and in the clear, They are not....
    Dan Kearl

  18. #18
    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Kaluski View Post
    Hi Andreas, not sure why the files are slow to process, never have an issue in LR and time is the same, they are certainly sweeter and any noise is fantastic and it locks on far quicker than the R5. In this situation forget electronic, stick to mechanical, otherwise you my injure yourself, but just keep frame rate down, the LEO should then get used to it and then over time you can revert to short bursts. It never spooked the Little owls last year even at 3m away, but with the Tawny it had to be electronic and easy to do as it was all set on a tripod with a remote, but worth doing for the huge surprise a day later!!!! I know light was a premium, but just watch the DoF, personally I think you are on the cusp here, if light falls on your side think about f/8 or 9. Any breeze will soften the gorgeous plumage so like the Musk Ox keep SS high.

    On a lighter note - I will warn you now, you shoot this owl over the next few days, spending the whole day with him, you will find they are very 'soporific', so you can find yourself, nodding off during the long periods of zero action.



    Good luck and think about that FP.

    The owls do not care about the shutter noise .... the male became spooked off by the **** dogs . Me standing just 5 m away from him .
    Agree with you about the DOF ... early morning and he was in the shade , so the consequence was the used techs . Could have gone back and grab the tripod .... but I was not sure how long he would sit that low .

    Would like to spend more time .... but do not want to stay longer than needed , otherwise my neighbors mother in law is right in my back and try to chat with me .... will not really have a quiet minute for me and the owls . I am happy that they let me use their property and gave me that tall ladder , one day even letting trying to shoot from their bedroom window .... LOL . Images were not even great ....

    Will try to remember the FP thing

    Cheers Andreas

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