Went out to try my old friend (100-400) with TC plus new rig (now have autofocus)a while back. I spent the entire evening with the burrowing owls at Brian Picollo Park. Right at sunset, as I was laying next to the burrow, this beauty popped out. Since his/her eyes were in the shade (shaded by the mound formed from the burrow dirt) of the setting sun, those pupils were huge and I could actually see the entire sunset in the eyes. I slowly got right to the MFD (about 8ft) and made this image. It's about a 60% crop so you can see the sunset reflection well with compression. You can see a small piece of the very late golden sun on the top of this beauty's head. 1DMKIIN 100-400 1.4xtc ISO 1600 F11@1/125
Great idea and the reflection in the eyes is very cool. I'm surprised that at f/11 the DOF is so narrow that it seems that the eyes are not sharp. Maybe some selective sharpening might take care of this. Did you focus on the beak or on the eye?
Hi Axel, yes, I was very close (reason for very narrow DOF) and I focussed on the owls left eye (right in the image). I was slightly off to that side to keep out of the reflection. So, the focus began to fall off faster on the other eye. It's amazing how close you can get if you stay very low and still. This owl didn't even do the usual threat posture; just stayed with his/her eyes on me. Thanks for the help!!!!
The sunset reflection in the eyes was a unique idea and the image is very interesting. Selective sharpening is needed on both eyes, with more on the left eye (as you look at the image). You might also lighten the reflections in the eyes just a tad to make it more pronounced.
This is amazing, I can see the whole landscape in the eyes. I can see the disappearing light on top of the head.
I used PhotKit Sharpener's Depth of Field brush on the left side and nose, sharpening brush around the eyes and curves on the reflections as suggested by Linda.
The results are much harsher than they would be on the bigger image, but you get the idea...
OK, so obviously it's time for me to take some Photoshop training for more advanced features. Can anyone offer a good source???? Thanks to all for fantastic suggestions!!!! So much to learn.....
wow.. Ive never seen that before.. the most I usually see reflected in a birds eyes.. is me.. or my house or vehicle.. that is really cool! and great work sharpening that.. shows me just how much i have to learn.. my methods are sledge hammer primitive in comparison....