They call me Mr. Slim - burrowing owl

[Randy Stout]

This fine fellow posed in the clear for me during Artie's SW Florida Post President's Day IPT in 2009. Taken in Cape Coral.

I liked that he was clear of most of the foliage, on the little side hill, pretty clean background, light angle gave some shadowing for definition.

D700 500mm/f4 with 1.4 TC f/5.6 1/640s ISO 250 Tripod/wimberley

Post: Full frame except crop form the top for comp. CS5, selective sharpening.

In retrospect, had enough light to go for greater DOF to get entire bird sharp, but at the risk of bringing in too much BG. Always a trade off. Note to self: Shoot it both ways when possible.

Advice and comments always appreciated.

Cheers

Randy

[Derek Willcox]

randy i like it nice and sharp oof tail doesnt worry me maybe a little bit more room on both sides but still a great photo

[Karl Egressy]

Excellent picture, Randy. Beautiful pose, eye contact details and great background. It looks a bit tight in the frame but it is ok with me.
I was shooting there but the only good ones I have were taken on Marco Island.

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Great eye contact Randy and I like the slope of the hill too.

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the pose, eyes and raised toe. A little tight for me as well but still a beauty. Well done Randy!

[Angad Achappa]

Excellent pose here you've got, love the eye contact too. Would have liked a little more room overall too, but still an awesome image!!

[Randy Stout]

Thanks everyone for the comments. Yes, pretty snug on the sides, thought it worked OK with this pose, but below is a slight tweak with canvas added on left, and a bit more crop off top to balance the comp. Not a big change, but I think it helps.

Appreciate your input!

Cheers

Randy

[Brendan Dozier]

Beautiful looking owl, Randy, nice HA and IQ, think adding a bit more on rt. in repost makes for better comp. Nice work!

[Grace Scalzo]

I was ok with the original but like the repost more. He's got a great attitude which you've captured perfectly.

[Arthur Morris]

The addition of canvas left is an improvement. Made three changes to that, two of the edge-freak variety. In an ideal world the dark angled line would be absent and the bird would have been looking right down the lens barrel. Thanks for the plug .

[Ofer Levy]

Very nice image! Your repost is an improvement but still a bit tight in the frame for me.

[Randy Stout]

Thanks folks for the additional comments and the repost Artie.


Artie. re: the dark band - I had removed it in one of my original versions, but didn't like the quality of my selection on the tail and felt the result wasn't acceptable.

If you have any words of wisdom on doing a convincing selection on the OOF tail area, would appreciate it. The birds abdomen was a very easy selection and I liked the result there.

Thanks

Randy

[Gary Esman]

Love those eyes. Nice pose and background. Like the looser crop more. I need to add some of these guys to my portfolio

Gary.

[gail bisson]

The looser comp ticks all the boxes for me. I agree that the sloping hill adds to the image. Lovely BG and great subject. Techs are good for me and I am Ok with the dark band in BG,
Gail

[Stu Bowie]

Randy, cool eye level perspective, and good eye contact from the owl. Your comp works well with regards to the pose, and adding spce on the left does make a difference. I also like the complimentary colour in the BG.

[James Salywoda]

Awesome pose and shot Randy I love your choice of composition.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks folks for the additional comments and the repost Artie.


Artie. re: the dark band - I had removed it in one of my original versions, but didn't like the quality of my selection on the tail and felt the result wasn't acceptable.

If you have any words of wisdom on doing a convincing selection on the OOF tail area, would appreciate it. The birds abdomen was a very easy selection and I liked the result there.

Thanks

Randy

Tres Difficile. The best thing that I could think of would be Tim Grey's Refine Mask stuff. It is on one of his CDs. I tried it but flunked out in the long run.... I hope to learn it one day as it is amazing with fine feathers etc....

[Randy Stout]

Artie:

Thanks for the input. I did work with the refine edge settings to try and fine tune my selection, but never got it work acceptably for me.

I will put this one in the pending file, and revisit it in the future!

At least I am in good company in finding this particular thing a challenge

Cheers

Randy

[PRABIR BHATTACHARYYA]

Randy, a very nice and clear posture and composition. Even though a bit tight, I still like the compo.

[Josh Clark]

WOW Randy, great looking shot of this guy. Love that slight head turn and those big yellow eyes. I like the angled slop you captured this on. Great job! Looks like a great workshop to attend.