Posted by Tom Stermitz on July 12, 2011 at 2:48 PM
Sitting on a friends deck under Billings rimrocks, I noticed what I thought was a stump up on the rocks. Binoculars revealed two juvenile Great Horned Owls. I "snuck" up to catch a shot, saw a third one, and was buzzed by an adult. The young ones tolerated a little closer approach, but if I wanted the best shots, I needed a 300mm or larger (in the mail!). On the other hand, for the scramble up the scree slope, I'm not sure I would want to carry a 300mm f2.8
So, I had to use a cheap sigma zoom that went to 200mm. Turn to manual focus; set f10 to make sure I actually get things in focus; thank god for high dynamic range of my K5 so I could extract plenty of detail from the shadows
I had a heck of a time with white balance, and there's still a little magenta. Bringing that down makes the cliffs green... still working on it.
Note the suspiciously red talons! We watched the adult tearing up a kill.
Posted by Tom Stermitz on July 12, 2011 at 3:04 PM
Here is a pair of the little guys. These were taken with my 50-135mm f2.8, which is a sweet lens, but that means I had to crop more than I wanted.
So do I, but the portrait you captured in #1 is excellent! I don't often (or ever?) see owl photos where they are perched on a rock ledge.
It's a wee bit underexposed, but a Levels adjustment fixes that right up.
The 'Image Polish' technique really makes it pop!
Great catch, Tom!
Really like 1 and the expressions of them in 2.
Just a thought for the future, if you get another chance at these guys (or other birds,animals), you might want to consider using flash fill to brighten up the shadows to show the beautiful feather details. Sometimes the subject can be farther from the camera than your regular flash can manage, in which case adding a Better Beamer fresnel lens to the flash will double or triple the flash to subject distance.
Posted by Tom Stermitz on July 13, 2011 at 4:50 PM
@Don: Thanks for the flash suggestion. Flash color matches daylight, which could have helped my white balance issues. I was at 30 ft or so, which isn't unreasonable. I need a stronger flash than I have.
@John: On the other hand, I liked the shadow of the deeper recess compared to the lighter right side. I was shooting raw and my ISO was only at 200. I'm still playing with the image to cut back the magenta and bring exposure up a little.
Posted by Tom Stermitz on July 13, 2011 at 5:14 PM
Another angle. Better color balance. Use of unsharp mask after resizing to bring up the feather details.
Discussion
9 repliesSo, I had to use a cheap sigma zoom that went to 200mm. Turn to manual focus; set f10 to make sure I actually get things in focus; thank god for high dynamic range of my K5 so I could extract plenty of detail from the shadows
I had a heck of a time with white balance, and there's still a little magenta. Bringing that down makes the cliffs green... still working on it.
Note the suspiciously red talons! We watched the adult tearing up a kill.
It's a wee bit underexposed, but a Levels adjustment fixes that right up.
The 'Image Polish' technique really makes it pop!
Great catch, Tom!
Just a thought for the future, if you get another chance at these guys (or other birds,animals), you might want to consider using flash fill to brighten up the shadows to show the beautiful feather details. Sometimes the subject can be farther from the camera than your regular flash can manage, in which case adding a Better Beamer fresnel lens to the flash will double or triple the flash to subject distance.
@John: On the other hand, I liked the shadow of the deeper recess compared to the lighter right side. I was shooting raw and my ISO was only at 200. I'm still playing with the image to cut back the magenta and bring exposure up a little.
Yay! My new 300mm came in the mail. Can't wait!