The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
There’s a great horned owl nest in a Fort Collins Natural Area not far from me. In the last couple of days the two owlets have started ‘branching’ out. This morning my husband and I were treated to a rather magical few minutes watching mom grooming one of the offspring.
Specific Feedback
Color, cropping, general feedback
Technical Details
Fuji X-H2S, 1/2000s, f/9, ISO 2000, 502mm
Critique Template
Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.
Too cute! I like the behavioral shot vs the more common bird-on-branch shot. I also like the detail and clarity in the birds considering the bright blue sky background. The only thing I would change would be to try and clone out the branch in the foreground. The large limb they are perched on gives a nice foreground anchor to the scene, well done!
I go back and forth with cloning stuff out of my images and yes, sometimes, when is it too much? I guess subjective and depends on your audience? Competition may have stricter rules than a photo club for example. I might at least clone out the branch closest to the head of the owl on the left (Mom I assume). But if you added a salmon clenched in her claws, then that might cross the line.
End of the day, it is a fantastic image as is, I love owls!
This is wonderful, Debbie. My personal ethics is that a branch in the way is not what the image is about and cloning it out is no big deal, but I don’t compete in any of those fancy national and international contests, nor to do I try to tell people my work is absolutely true to life. In this case I’d be ambivalent about it because the branch doesn’t really bother me that much, so is it worth the trouble to get rid of it? If the remove tool took care of it neatly, I’d probably remove it. If not, I don’t think I’d take the time to try and cloning it.
Hey, this is excellent! Wonderful behaviour and the owlet’s face is priceless. That branch draws the attention from this marvelous scene, and can go, since it’s not an integral part of the image. The “remove” tool in PS is useful. If you were in the mood, getting rid of some of the smaller branches is an otpino. It’s always tempting to crop closely with a scene like this, but this feels a bit tight to me.
Really sweet shot!!
Debbie! What a treat! The look of the tenderness between both birds is just lovely.
The image is so lovely I didn’t notice the sticks in the front until I read the other comments. Now I’ve seen them, I might consider removing them, but no big deal.
I like the bigger branch on the bottom; it’s a good grounding, but I might also consider cloning/removing the bright sky in the bottom LH corner.
All my suggestions are just that. Suggestions. This is a fine image.
Thank you @glennie, @Dennis_Plank and @Sandy_Richards-Brown - I removed the upper parts of the stick, but the bottom part was harder because it blocks the mom’s foot and claws so I left it as is. I darkened up the bottom left corner a bit too.
Repost is fine. Owls are good at using sticks for concealment and leaving some in place is good for context. Love the interaction that you captured…Jim
Processing: Lovely shot, Debbie! A touching moment between mother and (big) chick. I like how you’ve warmed up the owls slightly. I agree with some others that it might help to clone out the branch in front. You might also try Lightroom’s subject or object masking to mask the owls, then copy & invert the mask, and bring the exposure of the background down a bit. And also throw the background a bit more out of focus by reducing the texture and clarity of the background mask.; then draw more attention to the owls by adding a vignette. But good capture!
Hi @patrick1 - thanks! I did those same steps (local adjustments to owls, background, background blur, vignette) already and then cloned out part of the stick in the rework.
I have to redo this though to get more space around the birds so will consider making a few more deep changes as you suggest.
Somehow I didn’t even see this until now, and I’m glad I did because it is a fantastic capture! The branch removal is a very nice improvement. Good discussion about considering whether a removed item is incidental or whether removing it changes the story significantly.
Congratulations on the EP – so well-deserved! I hope we’ll get to see more of this family!
