Hi,
This is a full frame image of a Great Gray Owl perched on a really cool branch. I took this photo in Wyoming this summer.
Canon EOS 5D Mark III
Canon 500mm + 1.4x III
ISO 1250 | f/7.1 | 1/2500s (I was at this ISO because the owl had just been in the shade)
Aperture Priority
I removed some blue from the owl and the branch and didn't do anything else to the photo. I am wondering what everyone thinks of the eyes. It was late in the morning so the sun was higher than I wanted it and it made a shadow across the owl's eyes. I don't want to fix this because I like to leave my photos the way they were shot but I want to know if you think it doesn't look good this way.
Thanks alot, Ashleigh
Comments
17 commentsAshleigh, I'm not sure how far you mean to take the manipulation of the eyes... if you're just talking about bringing up the shadows a bit or actually cloning out the shadow in favor of a full yellow eye. I'd applaud you if you left it as-is, even if it's not perfect. Thankfully, you can at least see some of the pupils... often a problem with wild cats at midday.
Max
Hi Max! No I didn't want to change the eyes at all. I thought the feedback that I got would be to improve them so I would probably do a shadows adjustment maybe in an edited version. But I want to leave it alone.
Thanks so much for commenting and I hope you had a great summer. :)
Hey Ashleigh,
Sweet look at this GGO and you managed the unfavorable light very nicely. The details and colors are up to your usual high standard and as mentioned, very cool perch. I would leave the eye shadows alone, they coincide with all the other shadows throughout the composition and do not distract at all, in fact, they add a bit of a sinister look to the subject that says "I'm Bad to the Bone". If it were mine, I would consider a crop entirely off the bottom to an 8 x 10 format, that would place more emphasis on the subject without losing any important parts of the perch IMO.
Well done . . .
Hi Ashleigh, this is one of my favorite owls. I agree with you the branch makes a perfect perch. Beautifully captured.
May
I do like the image as presented. If this were mine, I would not change as it is now.
Very beautiful image, great perch and bg IMO
The eyes don't bother me a bit, Ashleigh. I like the bit of shadow. Nice job on the Owl and I like the perch. I think I'd crop from the bottom to about the right end uf the perch (4x5 or so) as the bottom doesn't add anyrhing to the image for me and it feels a bit tall to me. Take that with a grain of salt as most vertical 4x6s feel tall to me. Excellent image.
Looks good--slight crop off the bottom might help the comp. I'd leave as is..........................Jim
Love the eyes. To me, not sinister, but a bit of arrogance as in: "Wise? Of course; without question." I would also crop a bit off the bottom. Very nice.
The shadows across the eyes look good: they lend an air of mystery and an increased impression of depth to the eye sockets; don’t get rid of them, Ashliegh. I think I would partially relieve the shadow under the arched perch. A stunning picture. David
Excellent image. The owl pops off that wonderful background and I love the interesting and unusual perch.
Sweet portrait of this beauty Ashleigh
What a great perch and a perfect back ground to enhance the owl, a well composed photograph. I would be tempted to lighten up the shadows a bit around the eyes just to see what it would look like. But its a great shot as presented.
What is a perfect image ? It's only you than can decide. I would leave it as it is, since it's an awesome image, and the fact that part of the eyes are in the shadow tells a story as well (as being this owl sitting in broad daylight out in the open on a nice branche, for instance). Love it as presented !
, Cheers, Hans
Great bird well captured Ashleigh. I love the shadows cast across the eyes and won't change that, but I would be tempted to try Mike's suggestion regarding the comp. Terrific image-congrats.
Nice work as presented, Ashleigh.
I also like the suggestion of a bit different crop. If you terminate the perch in the lower right corner, you would still have plenty of the pleasing arch of the branch. That would eliminate the only distraction my eye encounters, the little yellow flower in the area inside the loop.
Hi Ashleigh, nice work. I actually like the large arch in the perch and you would loose some of that with a tighter crop. It works either way, but I prefer as posted. The shadows don't really bother me, but I might still be tempted to bring up the shadows a touch. If you do though, I would bring the shadows up over the entire image...otherwise it might look a little unnatural having some shadows heavy in the image and some not.
Wonderful shot Ashleigh! Congratulation, well deserved. Ray
Thank you Ray! Thanks everyone this is an awesome honor!!