Spotted/Cape Eagle Owls

[jcharris]

I have tried two shots at a Spotted Eagle Owl ( yellow eyes ) and a Cape Eagle Owl ( orange eyes ) .
It is the first time i have tried taking photo's of birds . I am not always too sure from which position to take the photo .
How do you see this ?
All your comments are welcome !!

Thanks
james

[Seb]

I have tried two shots at a Spotted Eagle Owl ( yellow eyes ) and a Cape Eagle Owl ( orange eyes ) .
It is the first time i have tried taking photo's of birds . I am not always too sure from which position to take the photo .
How do you see this ?
All your comments are welcome !!

Thanks
james

Hello James,

I don't shoot birds but here's my take:

I think that the Spotted Eagle Owl looks good. In a perfect world, I'd like to see that shot a little darker and with a shallower dof to truly get rid of the background (the fact that the owl is in an artificial environment is too obvious). But this is still a good one.

I like the Cape Eagle Owl too. Then again, a shallower dof would magnify the shot but I like the angle and the lighting. What bothers me here it the guy behind the owl. I think that a slight crop at the left would help to improve it but it cannot be fully recovered.

regards

Seb

[jcharris]

Hello Seb,

Thank you for your input . You are correct with the shallower dof . I have been trying to get that better , but unfortunatly my camera is a bit limited in that regard . ( Panasonic Lumix )

The guy behind the owl is distracting , think i should crop it like you suggest and maybe clone the rest out .

I think i got the dof a bit shallower on this photo with the little owl . But somehow i cannot get that effect on the photo's i want .

Thank you for looking and your advice.

Regards

[tab]

I don't have alot of problems with any of these shots. If you can get back there and take more you can try out some of the ideas posted. The dof on the small owl IMO is fine maybe it could be sharpened alittle in PS or maybe using different film boosting the contrast. The guy is a little distracting but I don't think you're trying to sell these as shots from the wild. You might try getting the handler in the photo. In the right pose with the right guy it could work better than having the owl levetating after you clone his arm out of the picture. I like the pictures you took. I would like to see one that jumps out at me a little more though.

[gahspidy]

James,
not bad. I would agree with the suggestion on less dof to keep the bg from distracting. Also, I feel that with Owls, it is a better shot to get both of their eyes rather than a profile type one. Other birds have better profiles and work well from the side, but Owls are best when they are looking towrdfs the camera. They have those eyes and shaped head and face that really defines them. jut MO.