Original
With all recommended edits
I also removed some magenta tint on the underside of the wings, cloned out or burned down some of the eye magnets and removed the frame and burned down the grasses just a smidgen. Not sure if this is the crop you were suggesting Max.
Critique Style Requested: Standard
The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
I shot this last Fall in Yellowstone NP on my second to last day in the park. This was a family of 4 birds, parents with two juvis that had fledged a couple months prior to my visit. I was walking around (you generally have to put lots of steps in and or be very, very lucky to find grey ghosts just flying around) and I had spent three days looking for these guys. I knew they were there and I still couldn’t find them. I almost gave up but when I was talking to another photographer the day before while we were shooting grizzly bears, he said that he photographed the grey ghost family where I has been looking for them. Almost impossible to see just sitting in a tree, you almost have to wait for them to fly before you can find them. Anyway, I gave it one more shot because I just felt it this time and after about 2 hours of searching I saw the juvi come out to the edge of an open field. After grabbing some shots of it, one of the adults flew out and perched in a tree’ They were on the hunt. Our presence didn’t bother them at all. I think these birds are very used to people. Sitting about 25 feet up on a tree branch searching for food below, it leaped off the branch and dove towards the tall grassed only to bank and turn right towards me. It didn’t catch anything but the interaction between the adults and the one juvi that I saw was priceless. I enjoyed every second of it.
Specific Feedback
This image was shot after the sun dipped below the horizon so there was very little light to play with here. Is it too dark or does this work?
Also, does that branch beneath the owl just to the left that looks like it’s about to poke it need to be cloned out?
Anything else?
Technical Details
Z9, 400mm 2.8 without the teleconverter engaged, f/2.8 wide open, ISO 3200, 1/650th second, hand held
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3 Likes
WOW!! Fantastic reward for patience and persistence! The owl is spectacular and the environment so nice! You caught him in the magic spot. It’s not a big deal but I think the snag could be pruned out. Why not go for an 11/10?
1 Like
Really nice, David. The one time I had a shot at one of these, I didn’t get any flight shots at all and this one is very nice, despite the low light. There are two other areas that tend to pull my eye in this image besides that stick which I would remove. I’ve circled them rather than try to describe them verbally.
I’m not sure why that one grass head annoys me, but it does. The scraped off bark on the tree is just visible enough to pull my eye. I think just a bit of burning there would take care of the issue.
An awesome image, despite the nitpicking.
1 Like
Wonderful shot, David. I find my eye goes straight to the owl, though agree the snag could go. I like that the eyes are looking at the viewer.
1 Like
Congratulations, David. For fun, I recently ranked my Top Ten Birds, and the Great Gray ended up #1… mainly because of the frustrating+rewarding experience of searching for it, which I love to do in the park. Glad it paid off for you.
I’m not a cloning guy, so I’ll avoid commentary on that. The composition could be improved a couple ways, I think. I like the wider environmental look here (not too dark if it’s akin to what you experiended, btw). I think the subject is sort of in No Man’s Land at the moment. Not centered, but not really placed in an area that lends good balance between the key elements.
I think a little can be cropped off the top regardless. Not a lot, but enough to place the owl firmly in the upper third of the frame. My next instinct is to crop the right trees out, since there’s a lot of room behind the owl. Sometimes I like to leave the “launch point” in the frame in such shots, but because you have lots of nice environment ahead of the owl, I don’t think the starting point is imperative here. This would also distill the main elements in the frame to owl + grass + left background conifers, creating a nice triangle between them.
1 Like
Hi David
To tell the truth, the big white frame distracts my eye more than anything in this photograph, after all it is a nature photograph. Nice work.
Peter
1 Like
Thanks to all who have commented and suggested changes. @Paul_Breitkreuz, @Diane_Miller, @Dennis_Plank, @Allen_Brooks, @Max_Waugh, @Peter_Morrissey. I have incorporated all of the suggestions in a repost along with some changes that I noticed as I working on it. There is a magenta cast on the underwings which I removed as well as burning the foreground grasses ever so slightly. Let me know if this works or not and if you have any more suggestions. I actually reworked this pretty hard. Too much to mention.
2 Likes
I think the new crop is perfect.
1 Like
For the life of me I don’t know why I didn’t notice the composition. You were correct. In no mans land. Thanks so much for the suggestion Max. It greatly improved the image.
2 Likes
Hi, Dave - I am envious! I’ve never gotten a Great Gray, and have only seen one, at a great distance.
The pose, those piercing yes, and the wing position are all superb.
The new crop, with suggested edits, is extraordinary - really fine work!
1 Like
Beautiful job on the repost, David.
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Hi David, terrific capture with the downward feet, sharp face, and blurred wings showing motion. Love the inclusion of the grasses on the bottom. Repost looks spot on.
1 Like
