Gallery: AvianPosted April 18, 2011134 views8 comments
Admitting to a certain addiction to owl close-ups!Imaged with a Canon FTB and 75-260mm Soligor zoom lens. Locale: Ramsey County,MN.This was a captive bird used in wildlife education programs.
~ Jeff Wiles
www.jeffwilesphotography.com
Comments
8 comments
Comment posted by Wayne Willison on April 18, 2011 at 2:14 PM
Jeff, like the pose and quizzical expression. But too bad the feet are cut off, and I feel it needs a little more sharpening.
Registered on April 10, 2009, 292 Posts, 3967 Comments
Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on April 18, 2011 at 2:20 PM
Kind of moldy-looking (cute) things, aren't they, when they're growing in feathers!
I'd love a larger version to see the detail better.
A lower angle would have given a better view of the great eyes, and backing up a bit would have allowed the feet to be included.
Alternately, a closeup of the head alone would also be great.
Does need a bit of sharpening and increased sat to the eyes to bring them out, imo.
Sandy
Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments
Comment posted by Mia McPherson on April 18, 2011 at 7:18 PM
Jeff,
I don't think I can say it any better than Sandy did so I will echo her critique of your image. Owls can look pretty funny when they are chicks.
Registered on June 25, 2007, 491 Posts, 12566 Comments
Comment posted by Jeff Wiles on April 19, 2011 at 1:54 AM
Just for the sake of clarification.. I'm unclear as to the intention of more 'sharpening' of this image. Might this be with regard
to the oof background? Because I purposely shallowed the depth-of-field so as to only have the owl itself in sharp focus. To my
knowledge this is not an uncommon technique in wildlife portraiture.
~ Jeff W
Registered on January 22, 2011, 43 Posts, 46 Comments
Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on April 19, 2011 at 10:44 AM
Jeff, I believe those asking for more sharpening mean on the owl, not the BG. A blurred BG such as this is very nice and as you say not an uncommon practice. For me it is hard to assess critical sharpness of the bird from the small version. Including a larger 1200px version always helps this assessment. The bird does look a bit soft to me though. Also, I agree with the others that having the feet in the frame would greatly increase the strength of this image because being able to see those great talons is important on owl shots. In general, including he entire bird in avian images is a good practice unless you are going for a profile type image. Just some suggestions.
Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments
Comment posted by Catherine Reilly on April 19, 2011 at 4:23 PM
Look at the size of those feet! Wish they were all in the frame. Very cute pose. Excellent detail and frame-filling portraiture.
Registered on August 16, 2006, 603 Posts, 9192 Comments
Comment posted by Mia McPherson on April 19, 2011 at 4:25 PM
Jeff, I think more selctive sharpening of the owl is needed. At the small size posted I wouldn't feel very comfortable evaluating sharpness or detail but this does look soft as posted.
Registered on June 25, 2007, 491 Posts, 12566 Comments
Comment posted by Cheryl Molennor on April 19, 2011 at 7:53 PM
How cute is that? I love the image but only wish the feet were in there
Registered on June 30, 2009, 300 Posts, 5051 Comments
Comments
8 commentsI'd love a larger version to see the detail better.
A lower angle would have given a better view of the great eyes, and backing up a bit would have allowed the feet to be included.
Alternately, a closeup of the head alone would also be great.
Does need a bit of sharpening and increased sat to the eyes to bring them out, imo.
Sandy
I don't think I can say it any better than Sandy did so I will echo her critique of your image. Owls can look pretty funny when they are chicks.
to the oof background? Because I purposely shallowed the depth-of-field so as to only have the owl itself in sharp focus. To my
knowledge this is not an uncommon technique in wildlife portraiture.
~ Jeff W