Barn Owl Chicks

[Dennis_Plank]

We hadn’t seen any sign of barn owls this year until I happened to be on the back porch a few days ago and saw something waving from the door. I put up a ladder some distance away and was able to see one of the chicks, so the next couple of mornings when there’s more light getting into the box, I tried photographing them, knowing it would be difficult. This image was from yesterday. I deliberately blew out the box itself to get more exposure on the chicks, but their down does not agree will with a lot of processing, so I always have difficulty with it. I’d love it if someone could come up with a better technique than I’ve figured out thus far.

Raw File

-20230608-_A1_5275-untitled.ARW (65 MB)

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My Edit

[Mike_Friel]

@Dennis_Plank - I loaded your RAW file into Nik HDR Efex Pro 2. I increased Tone Compression, Exposure and Structure, reduced Lower Tonality, increased Vertical Shift and finally selected FILM (EV +1) - I hardly ever use this application, but thought it might help here! Then I brought the resulting file into Photoshop, cropped to a final composition - and did a Linear Contrast in Curves.

I was aiming to get a “woodcut” effect, as your shot suggested this to me. So I retained some of the box, as well as bringing out the BG grain a bit. I also wanted to retain the effect of the young rascals looking out on the world. The one on the left just peeking out of the corner hole is priceless!

[Dennis_Plank]

Thank you, Mike! I really like what you did with this. It has way more punch than mine does and the overall feel is very appropriate for the subjects.