Yesterday, fellow BPNer Glen Fox, another friend and I, took a trip to see a Boreal Owl that had been being reported for a few weeks...we weren't disappointed. The Boreal Owls I've seen, on numerous days over the last few years, this one was, as out in the open, tha I've seen....not the greatest background (its their habitat) or light, very seldom do you see these Owls at eye level .... thanks for looking
D300
Nikon 70-200 2.8 @ 122mm
F4
1/320
iso-400
from a jpg image
cropped 20%
removed a branch from birds left side
Last edited by Paul Lagasi; 01-14-2010 at 03:39 AM.
Nice one Paul, this could well be the same owl I shot last week and post an image of here a few days ago. Did you see other owls? I like the composition with placing of the owl and diagonal branch, also good pose and the open eye contact. Nice expose with the challenging back lit situation.
I thought that owl looked familiar.
It is nice to have a pretty clean foreground shot at this fellow.
For my personal taste, the background is too bright and with the unavoidable clutter, there are so many high contrast edges, that it competes with your bird.
I made an adjustment in the exposure level and gamma set point, filled the mask with black, and painted in the effect I wanted. I also brightened the eyes just a touch, and sharpened the facial disk a bit.
Randy I like what you did to the owl and the branch it sits on but I prefer the original bg because the darker, more saturated colours distract from the subject.
Good find, I like the eye contact and soft light. As for contrast, I would prefer something between original and Randy's repost and would give it a bit more room.
Paul, neat find. I like your post better. I would crop with just a little more room all around keeping more room on the right then the left. well done.
Ted
Boreal Owl
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