Last of the brood

Image Critiques Avian Critiques
1

-20230703-_A1_8309-Barn Owls-Edit-Edit.jpg
-20230703-_A1_8309-Barn Owls-Edit-Edit.jpg2048×1419 731 KB

Critique Style Requested: Standard

The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.

Description

I think this will be the last of the Barn Owls for this year. We haven’t seen any in a couple of days. When they’ve all fledged, their parents move them away from the nest box until they learn to hunt for themselves. This was the baby of the family and was out on the top of the box way too late in the morning (once the crows get up and spot them, they can actually harass them to death), so I went out to encourage it to go find a safe roosting place, which it eventually did. Meanwhile it assumed the classic defensive posture of making itself look as big and fierce as possible. As an addendum. The next day it was back and able to get into the box on it’s own before the crows were up. Now it’s gone.

Specific Feedback

This was quite low light with a hazy background. I tried both the LR noise reduction and Topaz. I finally found that the Low Light Topaz worked the best, though far from perfectly. I know this isn’t what I’d call an exceptional image, but I thought it conveyed cool behavior.

Technical Details

Sony A1, FE 200-600 @ 600 mm, hand held, f/6.3, 1/500, iso 6400, manual exposure. Noise reduction in Topaz, Other processing in LR & PS CC. Cropped to 3869x2681. Taken July 3rd at 5:28 AM.

2 Likes
2

Wow, Dennis! This is my favorite of your baby barn owl series! It’s very artistic looking with that complimentary white background and the owl filling the frame. I could see it really big on a wall. Beautiful work!

3

Amazing pose and intense look of the Barnowl. The ISO 6400 shows a little, but what can you do. I found as well that Topaz handles the image best most time when switched on Low Light modus. Love it ! Cheers, Hans

4

What a great ending to the story. So glad they all have made it to this stage and had you there to document it for us. The pose is terrific - very fierce indeed. Crows are butts.

5

Hi Dennis, love the pose you caught here and this one definitely seems to have that bedraggled youngster look. As Hans mentions, the ISO 6400 is showing in image quality but the behavior is still quite cool to see. What a great opportunity to have these around. Nice series!