I think I would go with a more vertical crop if this were mine assuming there was some canvas available for the bottom, but this is so beatiful shot with the comp elements the way that they are. Absolutely wonderful background--refreshing to see--great subject and look back. Some tweaking would be justified on such a fine shot. There's a little piece of grass by his tail that could go, the light spot at the upper right on the rock could get toned down, and added contrast to the rocks(just a little) and to the bird(enough to tickle some pop factor out of him). But the most important factors that makes a great picture you already have in this shot so big thumbs up to ya!
Harshad, I like the eye contact, and nice and sharp for the slow ss. Although I would take this any day, I find that he is camoflauged against the BG. Still, a great sighting, and well captured.
Hey Paul , Thanks a ton for comment and suggations , I am unable to crop it verucally as this is 85 % of original horizontal ,
Here is repost would love to hear from you
Always, always, always, shoot the surrounding enviornment when you know you've just shot a great subject. Even if that subject has left the scene. You can always delete--and you can always the also add canvas for comp trials. He pops more thats for sure in the repost. I think this is one of those shots that should capitalise on the camoflage theme. Not even in another frame maybe do you have some bottom canvas?
I sort of see Paul's point comp-wise, but with the owl's body angled and more or less elongated lenght-wise I'm digging the horizontal comp. I agree with his other suggestions though, and the repost incorporating them is an improvement. You may wish to lighten the owl's left eye (our right), and tone down the leg a bit. Great rocky habitat - and the dry vegetation adds a nice touch to the overall feel.
Harshad. You have done real well getting this. This is my take and hope it enhances for you. Contrast +14. Saturation + 12. Eye lightened +12. Using Quick Selection tool in CS4,same in CS3, selected bird and sharpened with Smart Sharpen 60% , 0.6. Inverted and applied Gaussain blur on bg at 1.0. Great to see habitat, but not wanting conflict of attention. Darkened leg a tad. Note. Claws not as sharp now. Could have done that, but important point to show potential. Cheers Harshad bhai
Great find, good soft light and eye contact. I like the setting a lot. The composition works for me as presented. The additional sharpening of the bird looks good but I would not blur the BG but agree with Daniel on toning down the whites on the leg.
Wonderful owl Harshad bhai and your horizontal crop works for me for the reasons mentioned by Daniel. Not that Paul's suggestion is invalid. In fact, I quite like what he said and his explanation. :)
I like Dave's repost for the punch, but the talons are too soft there perhaps due to having had the small jpeg to play with. IAC that has the best pop in it! Well done! :)
Beautiful owl. I like the composition as is and would tone down the whites on the legs a bit. I wish his talons were completely in focus.Overall great shot.
Eurasian Eagle Owl
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