SEO in B&W

Gallery: AvianPosted March 5, 2015310 views12 comments

It's been a good winter for owl activity in Washington. Earlier this year I spent some time photographing some very active short-eared owls north of my home. It was rather dull and overcast on this particular morning, but I came with a few flight shots I liked. In this case, I opted for the high key monochrome conversion, which I felt helped brighten the image and made it pop nicely. What do you guys think?

Canon 1DX
Canon 500mm f/4 IS + 1.4x
ISO 3200
1/1000th
f/5.6
(NR applied to BG, converted to B&W in Silver Efex Pro 2)

By the way, I don't typically clone out grass and branches, but sometimes will do so when preparing an image as an art print. If you want to see a "cleaner" version of this you can click the Print URL link.

Max

Comments

12 comments

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on March 5, 2015 at 12:29 PM

I think this is a very cool image! The B&W works well for me. Great head on shot. I'm a little distracted by the bright lighter diagonal line in the LRC and some by the curved one below the owl. Mostly just the one in the LRC. Very cool!

Registered on November 20, 2003, 458 Posts, 4836 Comments

Comment posted by Hans Overduin on March 5, 2015 at 1:59 PM

Good choice Max ! I really like the image, wish you had posted a larger version as well !

, Cheers, Hans

Registered on August 31, 2011, 491 Posts, 3807 Comments

Comment posted by Thomas Haney on March 5, 2015 at 4:51 PM

Great shot Max, I love the laser-like focus in the owl's eyes.

Registered on April 7, 2013, 138 Posts, 537 Comments

Comment posted by Wayne Jones on March 5, 2015 at 10:38 PM

This is gorgeous. Your conversion looks like the owl is printed on a silky, silver platter. I don't have a problem with the grass at all, since it gives the image a sense of place. However, removing that one stem with the dark spots in LRC would make this perfectly clean and balanced, just because it's the only one of that kind in the image.

Registered on April 18, 2007, 953 Posts, 6435 Comments

Comment posted by Swathiraj G on March 6, 2015 at 11:02 AM

Very beautiful image...

Registered on April 26, 2014, 71 Posts, 153 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Thompson on March 6, 2015 at 3:05 PM

Amazing Max! This is very a special catch. Love the B&W treatment, so crisp!

Registered on August 7, 2014, 125 Posts, 2319 Comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on March 7, 2015 at 2:56 PM

Love ti Max and think it is on the money. Personally I am not distracted by some of the things mentioned and like it as posted. Great idea to convert this one...it works very well.

Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments

Comment posted by Max Waugh on March 7, 2015 at 6:54 PM

Thanks for the feedback, guys. Hans, the Print link does lead to a large version if you want to see it slightly bigger.

Max

Registered on September 26, 2008, 428 Posts, 2329 Comments

Comment posted by Luke Ormand on March 16, 2015 at 11:24 AM

Incredible shot - congrats on the WP

Registered on February 4, 2009, 1093 Posts, 7035 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on March 24, 2015 at 6:14 AM

I've been away for awhile, so I missed this one when you originally posted it Max. Great eye contact. And I really like the B & W conversion.

Registered on October 28, 2004, 222 Posts, 6683 Comments

Comment posted by Morkel Erasmus on April 3, 2015 at 1:07 PM

Very nicely done Max, great head-on pose and tonal range.

Registered on March 22, 2011, 385 Posts, 2068 Comments

Comment posted by Patrick O'Healy on April 3, 2015 at 4:15 PM

Wonderful shot Max. If you told me it was an oil painting I would believe you.

Registered on March 13, 2011, 326 Posts, 1679 Comments