Got an opportunity to photograph these winter migrants here in New England , Unfortunately there were too many clouds forcing me to shoot at ISO 4000. I was able to predict the flight path accurately fortunately
I am open to any fine tuning.
Does black and white change your view of these majestic creatures ?
Is this a composite: No
D6 180-400 with 1:4 TC
ISO 4000 / F 5.6 / 1/2000 sec
Manually exposed
Wow, great shots you have here Karl. I have heard they were seen along the CT shoreline but have not been so fortunate when venturing out. Your head on views are exciting, allowing wonderful views of these beautiful birds. I can’t see that the high ISO has added much noise to the image. My personal preference is the color image, which highlights those yellow eyes.
Karl, I think the monochrome conversion works particularly well because you chose to keep it a wider composition. The dark “fingerling” plants coming up from the bottom really make it interesting and provide some nice contrasting tones.
I think the image could be tightened slightly (there’s some extra empty space above and to the right) in order to move the owl to the right upper third, which I think will help the overall balance, but otherwise it’s quite effective.
Very nice high key monochrome image. I agree with Max with respect to the crop. I like both shots. When I first looked at it, I saw fair amount of noise but now that I know that you were shooting at ISO 4000, that is to be expected. I don’t know what software you used for noise reduction but if you haven’t looked at Topaz D noise, it might do a good job.
I like the B&W much better than the color image. Not so much because of the processing, but just a more pleasing pose for my taste.
Thanks @Keith_Bauer , @David_Schoen , @Max_Waugh , @Jim_Lockhart
The black and white does appear more striking - but the negative is the loss of it’s striking yellow eyes!
Despite your challenges, both stunning images. My preference would be the first, not so much the B&W but since it has more environment around the bird. But, as said, both images appeal to me ! Cheers, Hans
