Mission Accomplished!! Please Critique!!

Well, a few days ago I mentioned that I was a woman on a mission to see my first ever snowy owl! Well, after almost daily trips to the marina in my city and Racine which is about 40 minutes north of me and also south into Illinois about a 1/2 hour from where I live ...I FINALLY SAW ONE!! I am doing the happy dance!!! :cool:

I know these aren't fantastic but please let me know what you think. I have MANY to go thru so I want to make sure I am on the right track as far as brightness, white balance, etc. etc. My screen isn't calibrated so I hope they look ok. I am hoping I will walk away with at least a handful really good ones and don't mess them up in post by over-processing or under-processing. There was some shadows that I tried to lighten. On some, my focus wasn't spot on and I may have tried to sharpen too much to compensate. I tend to make things worse when I'm done!


Suggestions would be appreciated before I go thru too many of these. Thanks Much!!

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7165/6...9a14ac58_z.jpg
IMG_9511 by Denise Trocio, on Flickr


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7018/6...98200c1a_z.jpg
IMG_9417 by Denise Trocio, on Flickr
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7003/6...9a830c99_z.jpg
IMG_9408 by Denise Trocio, on Flickr
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7019/6...fa553859_z.jpg
IMG_9481 by Denise Trocio, on Flickr

BTW - Thank you again Pat and Jonathan for letting me know about the ebird website ...I never would have found this bird without it!!

Happy New Year!!!

Denise

They look good to me. Congratulations Denise. Nice set of photos.

Denise - Congratulations, I am glad you were able to find one. They are pretty birds, and yours look great. The white balance looks good, and the eyes are not over sharpened (seems to be a common error people do with these birds). The first one could use a little lightening of the eyes.

Really cool shots.

A couple days ago, I got real close to one, but it was to early in the morning and the light was horrible... so the pictures did not turn out at all.

Pat

So happy for you! And a little jealous too! Nice captures.

Great shots, Denise! Bill W, Brant and I spend most of a day together earlier this month chasing reports of a local snowy, and came up dry.

Thank you!! I did notice that these birds do have to be perched just right if the sun is out! If slightly off, you can end up with one bright eye and one very dark eye like I did in a number of shots! Also, on some I used my extender ...big mistake, right when his wings were spread fully out and I did not manual focus very well :( A few I didn't do half bad ...the last shot is manual focus with the extender! I'm lucky it didn't sell before I saw this bird!

What was funny about today though was many, many photographers were out scouting the same areas looking for the snowy owls and I was the first to spot him! It didn't take long before photographer after photographer set-up behind me, afraid to go along side me like I had first ownership I guess! Anyway, I couldn't help but wonder if anyone was from TDP ...amazing how this place always comes to mind! But by the sounds I heard from behind me, nikon clicks were in abundance ...and I think one indiscreet sounding tamron lens!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by neuroanatomist

Great shots, Denise! Bill W, Brant and I spend most of a day together earlier this month chasing reports of a local snowy, and came up dry.

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You guys gotta head over my way now ...I know where one hangs out on a regular basis!! I sure am going back soon since I had to leave before he was in flight! That is my next mission ...SOIF (snowy owl in flight) right from take off!

*books plane to US*.
Love em, not sure if you used a CPL, but the sky is nice and blue as if you did anyway. The Karate Kid / Tai-Chi pose is great (maybe could go 1 less on the sharpness though). Still, I'd be hanging that on my wall...

Nope, no CPL ...I sold all of my cpl's :( but it was a very nice sunny day up until about 3:00. These were taken between noon and 1:00. I was so lucky to have the sun behind me! I will try and reduce some of the sharpening on the karate kid shot. It was starting to get alittle windy and Mr. Owl was having a tough time at some moments balancing himself on the pointed rooftop.

Congratulations, Denise --- they are all excellent. I think you did a great job with the exposure and processing. This is a very nice way to finish off the year, on a very high note. It's a great omen for 2012!

Happy New Year!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jonathan Huyer

Congratulations, Denise --- they are all excellent. I think you did a great job with the exposure and processing. This is a very nice way to finish off the year, on a very high note. It's a great omen for 2012!

Happy New Year!

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Thank you, Jonathan! I sure hope it's a great omen! I for one am not sad to see 2011 go away!! SALUTE to 2012 everyone!!

I lightened #1's eyes a teeny bit, should I lighten them even more?

Another to add ...


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7154/6...a0beb92a_z.jpg
IMG_9409 by Denise Trocio, on Flickr

This is the last one I will post here. Afterall, if you've seen one snowy owl you've seen them all ...LOL! The rest I will just post on my flickr site and maybe a few will be good enough for me to post on my www.dtrociophotography website!

On this one he has his transparent eyelid half closed that is why the eye looks alittle blurry toward the corner ...
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7151/6...25995faa_z.jpg
IMG_9418 by Denise Trocio, on Flickr

Thank you so much for looking and for the advice!

Denise

Wow, great set Denise, I really like the first two and the second last one you just up loaded. I wonder if you change the metal green colour to another colour if it might look a little less "man made".
I am very jealous of this sort of encounter, well done.

Sigh.. First this: http://www.photographyblogger.net/20...tures-of-owls/ blog, now your photos. I NEED TO FIND ME SOME OWLS! I hear there's some barn owls kicking around in my area this time of year. Guess I have a mission now. :P

AWESOME shots though Denise. Must have been an amazing day.

Nice shots Denise. Bella was jumping up and down screaming "Hedwig!", so I think she approves too. ;)

Thanks guys and thank Bella ...LOL! Those shots in the link you provided, Rocco are amazing and good luck on your mission!! Those shots makes me want to play with the pp alittle more and get alittle more creative! Also, yesterday morning I left the house telling my daughter I WILL find a snowy owl today so I guess thinking positive helped :) Steve, I'm not fond of the green either and I tried playing with the coloring of it but it ended up being way beyond my skill level & looked really fake! I am going to try some tight headshots to eliminate it and hopefully won't suffer too much in the way of noise and IQ.

I was going to go back today and try for those BIF shots but it is way to nasty out ...what a difference a day makes!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ddt0725

I lightened #1's eyes a teeny bit, should I lighten them even more?

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Looks good... I would not go any more. I checked out the original size in flickr and I think you have it right - any more would get to noisy. There may be one of the birders that no how to get more without noise, but I think it looks good.

I really like the glassy look in the eyes of the last one you posted. It looks good with the catch light in the eye. Again I looked at the original size in flickr, and you can see a little of the blurr in the corner if you look hard enough, but overall I like the look of the catch light on that one (my favorite because of the eyes).

Way cool Denise! Congratulations on the find. I have always wanted to see one of those in person also, but I don't think they travel as far south as Nebraska. I just would like to see an owl in the wild to tell you the truth. I think they look great and would be even cooler printed large. Go BiG!

Congrats Denise, the exposures look very good to me. Would love to see one in person. I have a cousin who lives in Rhinelander, I have been thinking of calling him to see if there are any in the vicinity of his place. They are being seen much farther south than usual this year.

Thank you! Yeah, I don't know what the reason is but they are being sited alot in SE WI and NE Illinois. Up until today we have been seeing very unseasonable temps and no snow ...a light jacket is all that's needed when usually it is below zero temps by now!

End of February is when I went last year to see bald eagles in Beloit, WI. I wonder if the timing of them will be different this year due to the change in weather pattern.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ddt0725

End of February is when I went last year to see bald eagles in Beloit, WI. I wonder if the timing of them will be different this year due to the change in weather pattern.

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Use the eBird Range Map web site to see if there are any sightings. Just change the search from Snow Owl to Bald Eagle, and keep an eye on when the sightings start going up.

Pat

Super job tracking them down and capturing them Denise.

Thanks, Don! I hope to see him again soon so I can get some BIF shots but the weather is not cooperating with my plan!