The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
I typically go to this wildlife refuge two to four times in the winter just to photograph hibernating short-eared owls. These owls typically hunt around dawn or dusk and they use their acute hearing to hunt small animals, thus making it important to select a day with very low wind speeds. This year I have seen many more flying around than in past years, but on this evening I only saw this one. This is pretty much my dream shot, i.e. in flight looking directly at me. The only thing better I could have hoped for would be for the owl to have been closer.
Specific Feedback
Any feedback would be most welcome. A few specific things would be camera settings, processing and composition or cropping. This image was highly cropped. I upscaled it in photoshop. Does it appear to be too highly cropped?
Technical Details
Canon r5, Canon 600mm F4.0 L, 1.4 extender on tripod in manual mode
ISO 250, 840 mm, f/5.6, 1/1000 sec
Processed in PS and sharpened and denoised in Topaz Photo AI
Image was upscaled 2x in Photoshop, It was heavily cropped.
Critique Template
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Vision and Purpose:
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Skagit Valley? I’ve been up there a few times this year and I get a sense from your description and the very beautiful photograph that it was taken there.
Really nice photograph Alexander. The owl is tack sharp and the subjects pose (looking towards the camera) is really nice. The colors are warm - sunset? Very nice. With regards to crop, I think you can crop more. The subject is sharp and it is the subject, so IMO something tighter. Attached is a suggestion.
Beautiful bird in a beautiful setting. You must be tickled pink to have captured it.
I love the simple colour palette and I like seeing the habitat. I like the composition as posted, but maybe there are a few more versions to consider. I might be tempted to raise the shadows slightly on the birds wing?
@stephen_rauch thank you for your comments. This image was taken at Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge in Texas. I spend half my time in Bellingham, WA and the other half near Houston, TX. It was taken at sunset as your surmised. I really appreciate your feedback on a suggested crop.
@Glenys_Passier thank you for your feedback and specifically for your comment about raising the shadow on the bird’s wing. I did this for the eye that was in the shadow, but I hadn’t considered doing that for the wing.
Very nice, Willem. This is a classic Short-eared Owl flight shot. They seem to have a tendency to look toward photographers, though I can’t imagine why they’d want to do such a thing. The late evening light is wonderful and your repost is excellent.
I like this one a lot, Alexander. I think the repost is better, but you got great clarity. The only thing I might do is try to lighten up the dark side of the face, but that could be difficult. Might be nothing you can do about it.
HI Alexander
The lighting and eye contract are great. The close up provided by Stephen does show more of the feather detail, but sence you stated this photograph is highly cropped, I would have just reframeded the Owl to the right of center. I think the open space has a story to tell.
Peter
Nice capture! Love the soft colors of the BG and sharp detail on the owl. I like the first composition. Always like for a bird to have room to fly in the photo. Agree with raising shadows on the wings, but not a big deal. Looks great as is.
Thank you @David_Schoen for your feedback. Managing the shadow on the shady side eye was the most difficult part of editing this image. I think it looks much better on my computer screen than on my phone. I brightened it up a little when I posted it on NPN, but perhaps I could do it a little more. Thank you again for taking the time to give me feedback!
