The photographer is looking for thoughtful feedback on the image as a whole, especially around the areas noted below.
Feedback Focus: Artistic / Expressive
About This Image
I was sitting by my pond hoping to capture views of Spicebush Swallowtails nectaring on my Cardinal Flower, when a large bird flew in and landed in a nearby tree. I turned my head slowly to see that it was this Great Horned Owl. It continued to sit and look around as I moved my camera and tripod a few inches so that I could get a clear look at the owl through the closer tree leaves. This is the result.
Feedback Requested
It feels right to have the Owl partially obscurred by the intervening leaves and their glow does harken back to a time when “cramming” (oof materials adding color in front of the subject) was in vogue).
Technical Details
Camera: Canon EOS R5
Lens: RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM
Focal length: 500mm
Shutter speed: 1/500s
Aperture: f/10
ISO: 6400
tripod and AI noise reduction
cropped to about 50% of full frame.
I still like the cramming look. Looks fine here. I don’t think you could have found a better tree for the owl to pose for you. My first impression was the tree and owl are a bit dark, but they do love dark places, so I’d leave it as is. Love that stare.
Nice job, Mark. I’d be tempted to bring up the the owl a bit-to my eye it looks a bit dark and contrasty for a daytime shot, even in a wooded area. Other than that, I do like the “through the foliage” look.
Oooh I’m so jealous. Barreds I’ve shot before and much like this with foliage in between it and the camera - looks perfectly normal and natural, but also speaks to where they live and survey their domains. Just lovely. So glad it was patient with your maneuverings. Bravo. Print it!
I did take it into ACR and tinker a bit, hope you don’t mind.
Basically I reduced the magenta tone, masked for the bird and lightened it slightly by bringing up shadows and exposure, duplicated and inverted to bring down exposure and saturation of the greens, then a radial mask just of its face and brought up exposure. You could go moodier with the background if you wanted, but I like the airy feel of what you presented. What an imposing bird - they are so silent when they fly which is the only time I’ve seen them - after I’ve spooked one.
I hear them all the time, but I don’t see them. This is a wonderful shot. I like the effect of the greenery. Very sharp. I think the contrast adjustment works well for this image. I assume this was near your place in Wyoming.
Great find and catch Mark. Love the woodsy look of this image with that incredible subject. What a look. Agree with bringing the bird up a bit. I like what @Kris_Smith did. Congrats on this one!
Great use, and I’m sure planning… of the “cramming effect.” - none of it interferes with the owl, yet helps frame the composition nicely. Although a pretty subtle tweak, I do like what Kris did with her edit.
Not nits or suggestions really, although one alternative might be to crop square, removing the bright areas on the right. But that’s pretty minor thought.
Nice capture! GHO’s are fierce predators and am surprised that your local crows did not try to drive it off. I think @Kris_Smith edits show promise for the overly dark owl. Overall, a nice image that shows the secretive nature of owls. Well done…Jim
