I haven't been out with the camera recently so I though I'd post another kenyan bird of prey - this time a Verreaux's Eagle Owl. I love the colours that you get in the sky well after the sun has gone down, the deep blues and purples (when underexposed) are amazing!
I realise the horrendous red-eye will detract for many of you and it would have been a quick and easy job to remove it, but I kind of like it - I love the way it can draw the attention straight to the eye even though it is small in the frame. For me, in this situation the red-eye adds rather than detracts due to the more 'arty farty' mood of the rest of the image. I would love to hear your thoughts on it though!
techs: 200mm, 1/160s, f4, iso 1600, -1.3EV, flash with better beamer (as far off camera as I could get it whilst still confined to my car ) and fairly large crop (from horizontal to vertical)
I have to admit the eye doesn't do much for me as it just shouts 'flash' and I instantly think 'snap shot', as that's the type of photo you usually see red eye in. It also looks a tad soft and noisey. I can see the shot you were going for but it hasn't quite worked in this instance in my opinion, sorry
No worries Richard. I agree about the noise, iso 1600 is pretty unforgiving! Maybe I could do some reduction on the bg. The owl is sharp in the large version - though I agree it looks a little soft here.
Billy
Posted by Dawn Monrose on March 26, 2009 at 6:30 AM
The composition is great, but for me the red eye does detract from the image. A bit of noise reduction, a bit of sharpening and the removal of the red eye, and I think you'd have a pretty nice shot here. The blue colour is amazing!
Thanks Dawn. Heres a repost with a bit more sharpening, NR on the background, and red-eye removal. I agree that the repost looks better technically, but I think the red-eye gave it a bit more impact. I would love to hear your thoughts!
Much better IMO. It no longer looks like something from The Terminator and the noise reduction has helped too
Beautiful owl as well!
Posted by Dawn Monrose on March 26, 2009 at 4:20 PM
Ah yes, much better, the noise reduction especially. I can see where you're coming from saying the red eye has more impact, as it does draw the eye. It all depends on the image's usage I guess, as an artistic shot, maybe it does work for some people. As a saleable shot, it's much better without the red eye. Of course these two images could be used to demonstrate low light wildlife photography, and post processing techniques.
I personally prefer the shot without red eye, as it seems more natural, and you can see the way the birds plumage echos the mottled effect of the branches. I think it has more graphic impact as your eye isn't being drawn straight to the birds eye, and so can explore the texture and composition more.
Discussion
6 repliesI haven't been out with the camera recently so I though I'd post another kenyan bird of prey - this time a Verreaux's Eagle Owl. I love the colours that you get in the sky well after the sun has gone down, the deep blues and purples (when underexposed) are amazing!
I realise the horrendous red-eye will detract for many of you and it would have been a quick and easy job to remove it, but I kind of like it - I love the way it can draw the attention straight to the eye even though it is small in the frame. For me, in this situation the red-eye adds rather than detracts due to the more 'arty farty' mood of the rest of the image. I would love to hear your thoughts on it though!
techs: 200mm, 1/160s, f4, iso 1600, -1.3EV, flash with better beamer (as far off camera as I could get it whilst still confined to my car
Comments welcome
Billy
Billy
Billy
Beautiful owl as well!
I personally prefer the shot without red eye, as it seems more natural, and you can see the way the birds plumage echos the mottled effect of the branches. I think it has more graphic impact as your eye isn't being drawn straight to the birds eye, and so can explore the texture and composition more.
Good work!!