Whoo goes there...

[David Roach]

EOS R6 RF 100-500 @500 F8, 1/1000, ISO 400 Manual EXP, HH, small crop to 4x5 for better composition

Same evening as earlier owl post. An hour earlier, different owl with direct sunlight on clear afternoon. Got right on the sun angle to avoid deep shadows in those eyes. Thanks so much for all the valued inputs on previous post. Per those inputs, this one has more room even though still close portrait. More direct stare this time. Thanks again for all the help.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Immediately I do to the eyes which are well detailed and engaging. The eyes are sharp but the bill is a little soft, I am wondering if the feathers around the eyes are just a little over-sharpened - some appear a little refractile. Colours look good, I quite like the green foreground/background.

[Randy Stout]

David:
Jon hit all of the major points, re: over sharpening, slightly blurry bill. Very engaging stare. The large area of OOF breast is a bit distracting, despite the great eyes however. I twiddled with the sharpening on the oof breast area only, and could sharpen it up a bit, to reduce the blur distraction, but it wasn't a major improvement. In the end, I think the eyes cary the day. If you could only get him to lean forward a bit to get the eyes closer to the breast re: distance from sensor plane.

Cheers

Randy

[David Roach]

David:
Jon hit all of the major points, re: over sharpening, slightly blurry bill. Very engaging stare. The large area of OOF breast is a bit distracting, despite the great eyes however. I twiddled with the sharpening on the oof breast area only, and could sharpen it up a bit, to reduce the blur distraction, but it wasn't a major improvement. In the end, I think the eyes cary the day. If you could only get him to lean forward a bit to get the eyes closer to the breast re: distance from sensor plane.

Cheers

Randy

Hi Gents and thanks so much for the valued inputs. I know I'm in the minority, but I am in the school of not needing everything on the subject in focus. In fact, if I have the eyes I many times like OOF areas to help lead the viewer to the eyes of the subject. Having said that, the softness in the lower parts of this owl is only partially due to the narrow DOF ( it is at F8 but I was close). The bigger reason is OOF FG grasses and flowers closer to me(wanted intimate low angle even though I was aware of the obstructing vegetation). As far as the sharpening, it was extremely minimum and only done for the resize presentation(almost didn't sharpen at all). The raw looks identical on those eye feathers(in fact even a little worse till the highlights were pulled down a little). This species has very course feathers compared to other owls(a presumed adaptation for burrowing tunnels underground). In direct sunlight, this is the way they look(this closeup, anyway). The FG and BG vegetation is mere inches from this beauty so narrow DOF was a necessity to unclutter the image. Thanks again for the inputs. Always greatly appreciated.

[Dorian Anderson]

I'll echo the other comments and also suggest reexamining the white balance because the bird looks to have a magenta cast. I might also loosen the crop a bit as he is very cramped the the moment.

[Paul Burdett]

I tend to agree with David's views here, in terms of what's in focus vs out of focus, although I can understand the comments made by Jonathan, Randy & Dorian. If anything I'd crop more off the bottom oof section. In any event, my eyes are immediately drawn to the owl's eyes.

[David Roach]

Thanks Dorian and Paul for valued inputs, as always.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi David ... nice one .
Love the eyes and the "awkward " look up .

Here on my screen sharpening is too strong as well .... just my take .

TFS Andreas

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi David, for me, when going in this tight everything needs to be pin sharp, including the bill, sadly it's not. The eyes are always what we focus on when viewing and these are not, they lack the crisp, fine detail and the blacks are solid and contrasty/harsh. Even as a small crop IQ should be far greater. The white blobs are slightly distracting in the BKG, but the FG ones more so, but can be addressed in PP.

I think David, you have pushed both Dehaze, Clarity, coupled with Contrast, all of which are forms of 'Contrast sharpening', and so when sharpening everything has got compounded. At ISO400 no NR should be applied, can I assume David you have not applied Topaz???

I think David, just stepping back, having the whole subject in view, but if you are going for a more detailed shot then try using the Depth of Preview button.

TFS
Steve

[Steve Kaluski]

David I meant to ask, if you are using Lr, in the Development module what is the 'Profile' set to?

[David Roach]

Hi David, for me, when going in this tight everything needs to be pin sharp, including the bill, sadly it's not. The eyes are always what we focus on when viewing and these are not, they lack the crisp, fine detail and the blacks are solid and contrasty/harsh. Even as a small crop IQ should be far greater. The white blobs are slightly distracting in the BKG, but the FG ones more so, but can be addressed in PP.

I think David, you have pushed both Dehaze, Clarity, coupled with Contrast, all of which are forms of 'Contrast sharpening', and so when sharpening everything has got compounded. At ISO400 no NR should be applied, can I assume David you have not applied Topaz???

I think David, just stepping back, having the whole subject in view, but if you are going for a more detailed shot then try using the Depth of Preview button.

TFS
Steve

Hi Professor,
I stand corrected on the sharpening as I did set dehaze and clarity to 3 in PS Camera Raw (Don't use LR). This repost was very minimally processed with no sharpening ( not even for final presentation). Only processing done was pulling in EXP from ETTR and reducing magenta in Camera Raw in PS(even left out healing brush on beak for the dirt mark). There was no NR applied on either post. We will agree to disagree on the DOF as I like the narrow DOF in this one to emphasize the eyes. Even though it was within 2 hours of sunset, the south Florida sky was very clear with direct light on this beauty. The focus point is right on thr right eye and looks tack sharp to me. Other than the narrow DOF I don't see an IQ problem here. Oh, and forgot I pulled back a little on yellow saturation on OP and that is not done here.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi David,

Firstly apologies if the reply was rather 'blunt', but as they say - time is money and for me, it's just the key points that need to be raised. Sadly, unlike with Jon, we can't talk on a 1-2-1, and where you have the option to debate, discuss and expand thoughts and views from both sides...

I'll try and break it down into bullet points:

1. OK so you are using ACR, what is the the WB Profile set to... Adobe...?
2. Depending on your choice, even adding a small amount of DH, it still impacts, plus how you apply sharpening and the amounts
3. Not sure on the healing brush and why, but you could use the Adj brush just to slight darken the bill, but when you apply the adjustments do you have the masking area visible so you know where you are brushing in?
4. No NR - perfect
5. I feel at f/8 both the eyes and bill should be in focus, hence suggesting you stepping back which may have helped, how close were you to the subject? When photographing Little Owls f/8 is where I go to, but my distance is perhaps slightly greater than yours, primarily you have to work from a blind, you cannot get closer than 50mm plus, they just fly.
6. 'DOF I don't see an IQ problem here' - it's hard to say without the raw, but overall, I feel the IQ could be better, with much more finer elements, especially around the eyes, it all seems, as presented, a bit coarse, but that might just be within the PP
7. How 'yellow' are the eyes, well that very much dependents on being there I feel David, they may be paler, in the light they may be 'richer' but the elements (black parts) within the eye should I feel again be less pronounce, however... I'm basing that assumption on our LO's which are very similar, but again lighting plays a apart.

David, all of the above are subjective, just offering my 10 cents....

[Steve Kaluski]

OOH David, I don't think you have, but you haven't got HTP (High Tone Priority) enabled, or shooting cRaw and IS mode enabled in camera?

[David Roach]

Hi David,

Firstly apologies if the reply was rather 'blunt', but as they say - time is money and for me, it's just the key points that need to be raised. Sadly, unlike with Jon, we can't talk on a 1-2-1, and where you have the option to debate, discuss and expand thoughts and views from both sides...

I'll try and break it down into bullet points:

1. OK so you are using ACR, what is the the WB Profile set to... Adobe...?
2. Depending on your choice, even adding a small amount of DH, it still impacts, plus how you apply sharpening and the amounts
3. Not sure on the healing brush and why, but you could use the Adj brush just to slight darken the bill, but when you apply the adjustments do you have the masking area visible so you know where you are brushing in?
4. No NR - perfect
5. I feel at f/8 both the eyes and bill should be in focus, hence suggesting you stepping back which may have helped, how close were you to the subject? When photographing Little Owls f/8 is where I go to, but my distance is perhaps slightly greater than yours, primarily you have to work from a blind, you cannot get closer than 50mm plus, they just fly.
6. 'DOF I don't see an IQ problem here' - it's hard to say without the raw, but overall, I feel the IQ could be better, with much more finer elements, especially around the eyes, it all seems, as presented, a bit coarse, but that might just be within the PP
7. How 'yellow' are the eyes, well that very much dependents on being there I feel David, they may be paler, in the light they may be 'richer' but the elements (black parts) within the eye should I feel again be less pronounce, however... I'm basing that assumption on our LO's which are very similar, but again lighting plays a apart.

David, all of the above are subjective, just offering my 10 cents....

First and foremost, never any apologies needed as your cirtiques/comments are always helpful, learned from and appreciated. I am using DPP with neutral profile meaning camera does no processing to image (true raw). WB is set to auto in camera. I have seen your little owl pictures and these are very similar except for one thing. The feathers (all of them and especially those around the eyes) are much courser and not fluffy (in general) on the burrowing owls. In addition, there is almost always some sand on these beauties which in south florida is from worn down limestone which can be a bit shiny. Course eye feathers plus (in all likelyhood) some sand crystals in bright light looks like this when so closeup. I was less than two meters from this owl and thus narrow DOF (even if stopped down further). Again, I don't feel the need for sharp bill tip (just a personal opinion). Another point, which I made earlier, the FG and BG vegetation is very close to subject so the narrow DOF(being so close) helped greatly with that. Not sure what is meant by DH but for clarity the repost has no sharpening or contrast adjustment. Just pulled the EXP down from ETTR (that's all). Again, all comments, critiques and help always appreciated.

[Steve Kaluski]

OK, DPP that's Arash or Andrea's bag, not mine, Neutral, just check everything is zero. Less than 2m, personally I think that is way too close David for Wildlife, even if they are habituated to humans, flip the table and be I their shoes... Not sure with that lens minimal focusing distance is, but... Don't have an issue with the mush, just the white blobs.

DH = Dehaze

Are you capturing Raw or cRaw?