Powerful Owl (juvenile)

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Photographed in the heat of yesterday in a Sydney park. It was just over 40 degrees C, and the owlet (about 4 months old) was opening the wings to let the air cool underneath and was also panting. Its sibling is visible, I didn;t want to remove it. I really should have blurred the pupils on the sibling to match the restof its OOF appearance. I did paint the pupils black since I had flash induced red eye. These guys rock. I absolutely LOVE OWLS!!!!!!! :cool:

30D, 300mm f/4L IS USM, ISO800, f/5.6, 1/125th, 430EX at +2/3, FF

[Kiran Poonacha]

Beautiful one bhai, loved the eye contact, nice details, good you left the other bird there bhai, but as you rightly pointed out, I think you just need to remove the catchlight from it..

[Harshad Barve]

Terrific image , lovely exposure , nice details and killer eyes , Habitat adds much here Akosbhai
TFS

[Zoltan Kovacs]

Szia Ákos,

Killer eye contact!! Very nice habitat image. Congrat!

[Mital Patel]

how the **** in the world this image can be. total cracker. instead of the main owl i like the one in bg down there. look at those eye just coming out from the body :)

[Daniel Cadieux]

I really should have blurred the pupils on the sibling to match the restof its OOF appearance

I'm glad you mention that yourself as the pupils look very un-natural so sharp on an OOF subject.

These guys seem to have great personalities, or at least thats what they project from this image. Tough conditions to photograph in with the mottled light and ever present foliage!

[Lorant Voros]

I missed your posts, Akos brother.

What a killer stare here...from both of them. Good use of flash and nice the second bird makes the image very interesting and I love the habitat here. I understand why you love owls. They are magnificent.

[Morkel Erasmus]

stunning exposure here bro - love the eye contact. I do find the OOF owl's in focus eyes a bit of a nuisance :)
also love owls but have very few in my gallery...

[Joe Senzatimore]

One sweet image. As you stated , the eyes on the one in the BG need to be soft. That aside , this is still a great capture.

[arash_hazeghi]

Very nice shot Akos, the pose on the upper bird is way cool, softening the oof pupils has been mentioned. Very nie shot, TFS.

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Wonderful birds Mr. Akos!

So good to see the sibling also, but I have to agree with you about the eyes better been OOF.
I would increase contrast a little. Still a wonderful image I would love to have in my collection.

[denise ippolito]

Akos, I love the look on it's face. The second owl is a nice bonus. Very nicely done to get them both w/o the foliage blocking them:)

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Thanks guys for the replies. Appreciate all the feedback. I did what I should have done in the first place instead of being hasty and boosted contrast, blurred the OOF owlet's eyes and removed catchlights from them. Also upped the yellow sat by 19 points as I thought the feet looked a little pale and they are quite yellow. Here is the reworked version.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

They look so goofy. :) Is this their real name? If that is possible, I would try to get details in the plumage at the top of the head.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Good point about the top of the head Axel. Yes, it is their real common name. I suppose (without actually knowing) they may have been given this name to reflect on the fact that they are the largest of all Australia's owls at up to two feet tall.

[James Salywoda]

Spectacular birds and shot Akos they put a smile on my face very nicely done.:)

[Rob Drummond]

Great job Akos, in what appears to be very difficult dappled light. Great eyes and good job on the repost of the oof bird.

cheers
Rob

[Suzanne Huot]

Really interesting image ,sibling in background adds to the story too