Baby Great Horned Owls w/ REPOST


Posted by Jerry Merrell on Fri Mar 12, 2004 6:14 am

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D1x, 600f4, 2x, iso 200, 1/160, f16 (manual) no flash, cropped about 15%.

I am fairly sure these are great horned owls but I am not positive of their identification. I watched these babies for 1 1/2 hours yesterday but did not see or hear an adult. This image was captured about 15 minutes before sunset and is one of the relatively few frames in which both owls have their eyes open and the owl in the foreground does not completely obscure the face of its sibling. I will hopefully have better images of this pair in the near future. All comments and critiques welcome.

Edit note: Thank you for the helpful comments. My first correction was apparently too bright. For the revised repost, I brightened the image by adding 0.3 stops exposure to the original RAW image in Nikon Capture and cloned as suggested.
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Jerry Merrell


Last edited by Jerry Merrell on Sat Mar 13, 2004 5:08 pm, edited 3 times in total.

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by judylynn on Fri Mar 12, 2004 7:07 am
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What a wonderful capture Jerry. A great composition and to get all four eyes looking at you is the best. Congratulations.
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by Alan Murphy on Fri Mar 12, 2004 8:23 am
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Jerry, your patience paid off here. I would clone out the white wash and maybe a little work in curves to brighten it. Nice shot of a pair of cuties.
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by joseph motto on Fri Mar 12, 2004 9:25 am
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Jerry,
A very nice result here. It's sometimes difficult to spend a great deal of time and end up with very few top-notch shots but that is the name of the game. The darkness is unfortunate as the background and owls blend together but I personally am not a fan of using flash on wild owls and agree with your choice. Thanks for sharing.
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by taylorm on Fri Mar 12, 2004 10:33 am
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The owls are very cute. You did a great job patiently waiting for the birds to open their eyes at the same time :)

I agree with the previous comments about brightening up the image, but suggest that you do it at the RAW level. 1.5 to 2 stops out of bring out a lot more detail in the birds.
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by Bill Whala on Fri Mar 12, 2004 11:14 am
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Excellent shot of these two. I love the look on the bottom one's face. :D
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by Rob Palmer on Fri Mar 12, 2004 1:15 pm
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Jerry, a great shot and good angle for this nest site. Is this nest in the rocks or a tree? When the birds are this age the parents may only come in to feed no more than once or twice each evening.
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by Jim Urbach on Fri Mar 12, 2004 2:13 pm
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Jerry,

Great post. I would go along with the cleanup and attempt to brighten up the image. Getting both with their eyes open is neat.

Jim
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by NDCheryl on Fri Mar 12, 2004 2:18 pm
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Well worth the wait. A little less whitewash and some brightening and this one will be over the top.
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by AlexC on Fri Mar 12, 2004 3:20 pm
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Jerry, Wonderful Hooter pair, all good advise has been given here, nothing for me to add, Lovely kids!!! Congrats!!! 8)
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by Carol Clarke on Fri Mar 12, 2004 4:18 pm
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Wonderful shot Jerry!! The expressions are priceless! Superb as is, or just a fraction lighter to put it over the top!! (IMHO)... 8) 8) :)
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by Tom Bentley on Fri Mar 12, 2004 4:50 pm
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Cute little Great Horned Owls. The lower one is definitely give you the look. Great shot.
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by Colin Inman on Fri Mar 12, 2004 5:02 pm
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I am concerned about this photograph and have posted a topic in the photography forum rather than discuss it in the gallery.
Here is a link to the topic in the photography forum. http://www.naturescapes.net/phpBB3/view ... 492#131332
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by Wayne Ellis on Fri Mar 12, 2004 5:04 pm
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Well captured Jerry
Comments and reposts welcome

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by Jerry Merrell on Fri Mar 12, 2004 6:42 pm
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Eider wrote:I am concerned about this photograph and have posted a topic in the photography forum rather than discuss it in the gallery.
Here is a link to the topic in the photography forum. http://www.naturescapes.net/phpBB3/view ... 492#131332
Colin, you raise a very important point. I have addressed your concerns more fully in a private message. This nest is on the grounds of a private golf course and these birds are being raised among golfers and many construction workers. My presence was much less intrusive than it may appear from the post. If anyone else has concerns I would be glad to post a shot in elements of humankind or an essay with photos that should put you at ease.
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by Robert Kemmerlin on Fri Mar 12, 2004 7:59 pm
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Jerry,

Great shot. I feel at ease that you are not causing any problems in this situation. I'm looking forward to see what you can get with another trip or two.

I believe that it is a good idea to have the potential issues with nest photography raised with each post. We never know who is looking and how much experience the viewer may have. I know of at least one case where the photographer caused the death of two chicks by removing ONE leaf so he could get a cleaner shot (not me).
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by Jim Urbach on Fri Mar 12, 2004 8:40 pm
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Jerry,

I went out there today along with Jim Neiger and these owl chicks have all sorts of human activity constantly about them. See my comments in response to Colin's concerns in the other forum

Jim
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by Laura Stiefel on Sat Mar 13, 2004 7:36 am
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An excellent shot of these little owls. While I agree that the original could be brightened a bit I think I'd prefer it somewhere between the original version and the repost. Getting all four eyes open is just astounding. :)
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