First post...an expressive bird...

[David Israel]

A few months back, my wife and I took a trip to Florida. I was eager to make it to Cape Coral in order to photograph the Burrowing Owls (a first for me). Unfortunately, we had to squeeze the trip between other commitments and I was not able to be there during the more favorable morning light. My wife and I found a few owls who were out of their burrows, willing to brave the strong afternoon sun.

These birds are so expressive that it is very easy to anthropomorphize them, and see "human" emotions in their expressions. They were an absolute joy to watch and photograph and, while the brief expedition had to be squeezed in, it proved to be one of the highlights of our trip. Now, I can't wait to get back there again.

Canon 7D with 100-400 @ 400mm
Manual exposure
ISO 320
f/5.6
1/1000 second
handheld

Thank you all, in advance, for your comments and suggestions.


Dave

[Connie Mier]

Hi David, glad you got to photograph the owls. Well worth the trip judging from this photo. I like the pose, the bg is very nice and the lighting looks fine to me. I wish it were not so tight, maybe a bit more room all around. And maybe a bit more sharpening too.

[Dick Glover]

Welcome David. A very interesting pose the way this bird is twisted or the wings are in an unusual postion. Exposure and BG look good. A bit more sharpening might be helpful. Good start, and keep them coming.

[Lance Peters]

Hi David - Big Warm welcome to BPN - Dont hesitate to jump right in and leave comments on other peoples images - no better or faster way to improve your own skills - all we ask is that you say what you like or dont like about the image.
Nice first post!

like the pose and the eye contact - Might have gone for some more DOF - BG elements look to be far enough away to be of no concern, Had plenty of SS and ISO to support the move.
A little tight all around - and agree some additional sharpening may help.
Agree with your own observations re the light!
Keep em coming :)

[Ray Rozema]

Welcome to BPN great place to learn.
Very interesting pose.
Agree w above comments about less crop and little more sharpening.

TFS
Ray Rozema

[Alfred Forns]

Hi David Big Warm Welcome Glad you were able to find one of the little guys ... btw at times they are difficult and frustrating to find but once out normally cooperative !!!

Just wish it was a little sharper, not sure how it will do with an extra usm pass, if stock image is sharp will be no problem Like the pose just a bit more room as suggested !!!

[David Israel]

Connie, Dick, Lance, Ray and Alfred: thank you all for your kind feedback. I will go back tonight and take a look at the Raw image and see if I can loosen the crop or, perhaps, add some canvas. I can also see that some of the fine detail isn't there in the feathers and I will see if I can sharpen things up a bit. DOF is a tough balance. There were houses in the distant BG that I wanted to ensure were OOF, consequently, I shot wide open. Now however, I wish that I had stopped down just a bit to increase the DOF on the owl and could have managed the BG later in PP. This is a good learning experience. :)


Dave

[Dave Mills]

Hi Dave,great advice above with me echoing many of the comments pertaining to sharpness and more room around the subject.
I also weicome you on board and was wondering if you use a tripod. If not it is a valuable tool which can give you added benefits.

[Michael Pancier]

agree with other comments about space. If you're down again, we got a bunch of them in West Broward County as well; a lot easier to get to than Cape Coral.

[Gus Hallgren]

Hi: Need the practise, is this any improvement? Gus

[David Israel]

Hi Dave,great advice above with me echoing many of the comments pertaining to sharpness and more room around the subject.
I also weicome you on board and was wondering if you use a tripod. If not it is a valuable tool which can give you added benefits.

Hi Dave, thanks for the good advice.

Yes, I do use a tripod most of the time. As we were traveling, we brought only one tripod with us (we flew) along with a Gimbal Head. On this particular occassion, my wife was using the 500/4 on the tripod, so I contented myself with handholding the 100-400. I would have gladly traded with her! :)

[David Israel]

agree with other comments about space. If you're down again, we got a bunch of them in West Broward County as well; a lot easier to get to than Cape Coral.

Hi Michael, thanks so much for the heads up on the BO in Broward County. We try to make it down to Florida every 12-18 months, and I will remember that on our next trip down there.

[David Israel]

Hi: Need the practise, is this any improvement? Gus

An emphatic "YES" Gus. Thanks for the re-work. I'll play around with the Raw file tonight and see if I can learn something in the process. Thanks for looking and reworking the image!

[Ken Lassman]

Another big welcome David. BPN is a great place to learn....a lot of talented and knowledgeable photographers ( me, not being there yet :() Just love the pose, expression and the eye contact. Have never seen one of these little guys yet ...on my wish list. Where in Broward County are they? Anyway, I played with the re-post by Gus to practice. I used Topaz Detail and sharpened in Topaz Adjust knowing that it was the JPEG and not the RAW...will let the experts comment

[David Israel]

Ken, thanks for the repost. My original looks really soft compared to your nicely sharpened repost. You found a lot of detail in that image. I was unable to find my RAW image, and may have it stored on one of my portable drives, but I am eager to give a go at reprocessing the image myself. Your repost looks excellent.

I can't answer your question about where to find these guys in Broward County. Perhaps you could PM Michael Pancier to get some help with that. This fellow was located near the library in Cape Coral.

Hope you get to find one of these little guys soon. They are great fun to shoot!


Dave