This one is for cuteness rather than great photographic attributes. We found this young spotted eagle owl at midday in late December in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (read: extreme heat), sitting partially hidden in a thorn tree. There was a sleeping adult sitting on the ground under a next-door tree, ignoring the youngster's antics. I cropped it very tightly and sharpened; did not try to remove any of the lots of distracting bits & pieces.
EXIF:
Canon EOS-1D Mark II N
Date/Time: 2008:12:31 12:46:11
Shutter speed: 1/400 sec
Aperture: 8
Exposure mode: Av
Exposure compensation: +1/3
Flash: Off
Metering mode: Evaluative
Drive mode: Continuous
ISO: 1000
Lens: EF500mm f/4.5L USM +1.4x
Focal length: 700mm
I like the shot overall. My first ompression was the thorns was "chicken koop wire" from a zoo or rehap bird park. But your explanation explains that. However in NA I think the thorms would be considered too distracting.
I think you made the most of what you have to work with.
Hi Betsie, Good find. I like the in-your-face presentation and the cuteness. The out of focus thorns in the right hand corner (our right) do not bother me. I do find the the out of focus plant material (leaf?) that creates a green cast over the forehead of the bird to some what distractive. I think if you lighten the eyes a little and increased blacks of the iris it would help focus us even more on the eyes. A small increase in contrast might help the bird stand out more. I hope you do not mind but to give you more of idea of what I am talking about I applied these suggestions to your image. I also applied an average blur layer to remove any color cast as the image seemed a little too yellow to me (probably just my taste, you are the true judge as you were there). Thanks for sharing.
Thanks all for the kind comments. Phil, appreciate your comments and time taken to do & post improvements- I like your version! I have a second image where the youngster is yawning, will apply your suggestions to that one too.
In your face....
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