Haven't posted in Avian for a while! Time she's-a-scarce!
Just returned from the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa. One afternoon we came across a triplet of Spotted Eagle Owl chicks who were chock full of attitude and curiosity, and were out of their nest which was located in a tree by the roadside.
This is one of the images I captured. The setting sun was used for rim-lighting. This is full frame - no cropping done. In hindsight I would have liked a tad more space all around - I was photographic facial portraits when this guy jumped up on the branch far enough away to fit him in vertically...
Techs:
Nikon D3s with Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II + 1.4xTC @ 700mm
f5.6 @ 1/800 SS @ ISO-1400
Hi Morkel,
I love the texture of the perch and the lovely BG. I am not crazy about the rim lighting-just too bright for my taste and I feel it causes loss of (perceived) detail on the rest of the bird,
Gail
Thanks Gail. I played with the exposure as the little guy was luckily content with posing for a while, and wasn't liking the "non-blown-highlights" exposures as it lacked the detail I was hoping to achieve here. I could probably have fitted my flash but I didn't know how long he would stay there, and besides I am not sure one would want to strobe an owl in the eye . In the end, I felt having the highlights a bright as they are here gave me the best exposure on the bird itself. I think I was shooting at +0.7 or +1 here.
Hi Mork, your + EC has exposed the chick very well, but has made the outline of the plumage fairly hot. I keep going back to the image and the rim light does create a nice outline. Maybe creating one of your B&W masterpieces will work.
Great job of getting the bird exposed for detail Morkel. Nice capture of the open mouth. I find the rim too bright - I think if the rim did not run through the open mouth section it would not seem so bright. And I wish for a head angle more toward you.
Spotted Eagle Owl Chick
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. In the end, I felt having the highlights a bright as they are here gave me the best exposure on the bird itself. I think I was shooting at +0.7 or +1 here.
