Owl shots..

[mountaindew]

On my lunch break, went out driving around. Found a place to park along the side of a road, went out for a quick walk, 10 minutes later..found this nest. Decided to wait for a few minutes, and got lucky that the owl just flew into the nest!

Canon 40D, 100-400mm, focal length 400mm, Shutter Speed 1/800, Aperture Value - F6.3, Exposure Compensation +2/3, ISO 200 and forgot my monopod, handheld...

50 percent crop!

My hands were shaking so bad after a few seconds after the shots. I couldn't believe it turned out so-so after noticing my hands were shaking!

A few seconds after the owl landed...

Walking down to her nest...

Just getting settled in...

[finnbay]

Great find! Should get some super photos from this area!

[Steve Foss]

That's a nice find, like Ken said. And since there only are eggs so far, it'll give you plenty of time to scope things out and figure your best light angles and photography times.

Could get a little tough once the leaves come out but that's quite a ways away, and sooner or later this summer those young owls will start hopping around on branches near the nest and you should get some good shots of those, too.

I know you've got a 2x teleconverter, but do you have the 1.4? Were you using a TC on these shots? The 1.4 will give you better image quality than the 2x and still help you come closer to filling the frame. If that's what you want to do.

Wish I had a nest like that up here I could get that close to.

[MJCatfish]

Beautiful find there. What an awesome storyline this will make as the eggs hatch, etc. Have fun!

MJ

[MN Shutterbug]

It looks like you lucked onto a real opportunity there. If this were near me, I'd be checking this nest out every morning and evening.

[finnbay]

One thing that goes without saying (I hope). Be careful of the amount of activity anywhere near the nest as the owlets are small. Don't want more than natural mortality to take place if the nesting site is upset too much.

[hendenhook]

Nice shots - like the way the wings are spread in the photo. I just read somewhere that the Great Horned Owls hatch out really early in the Spring - like now - it will be interesting to see what shows up and how soon.

[MARINERMAGNUM]

I hope this doesn't turn into a mistake as I would never intentionally offend anyone on here about their photos but I am seeing alot of Chromatic Aberration [purple fringing] in your shots Dew.

The only reason i am posting this is because I know you have a 100-400 IS lens,as do several of us and personally I have never experienced this with mine or any others and I am concerned as to why it is occuring.

Were you running a TC on these? If so,A Canon or other brand? That could be the problem.

You have some A-1 images and you obviously have a knack for being in the right place at the right time and I would feel really bad if you got a once in a lifetime keeper with that fringing in it.

Again,please don't take it the wrong way as I am not one to criticize-as my photos aren't the best quality and I'm still learning,but I think this is a technical problem-NOT OPERATOR ERROR.

If no one else is seeing it,it must be my monitor. In which case feel free to ban me and knuck me over the head with a Sax Zim Log.

[Dave S]

MM,

I noticed the fringing also. But I have to admit, MD is one lucky person to find something like this and I'm envious as all get-out. All of you guys are far better photog's than I.

MD probably drives within a few miles of my house on his way home from work and can attest to the abundant wild life along these roads.

Awesome find Marc. Love the colors under the wings. Most Great Horned Owls I have seen were much lighter. This one has an almost orange tint to her.

[Steve Foss]

I also noticed the purple fringing, but don't tend to mention technical deficiencies in images unless someone specifically asks for C&C. Just my way of making sure I don't offend, as many here post just to have fun and share.

And just to be clear, MM, I don't think Mountain Dew will take any offense.

I have had this happen only twice with the 100-400 in four years, both times when the background was hot, like in this image. Photoshop CS2 and CS3 (if I remember right, MD has CS3) can correct for chromatic aberration. CA is intensified if a person bumps contrast, saturation and sharpness in post processing, too. In one case with one of my own images, I cloned out the purple fringing in photoshop. When I did photo/color toning for a newspaper, I often cloned out purple fringing on images submitted to the paper. It's not hard.

I have noticed more purple fringing on images captured with TCs under these lighting circumstances, which is one reason I asked previously if a TC was used here.

[MARINERMAGNUM]

 Quote:

And just to be clear, MM, I don't think Mountain Dew will take any offense.

I sure hope not. It's just that I remember seeing it in a few other images he posted,and if it was a problem with his body/lens,I would want Canon to make it right for him.

I know alot of folks post for fun,but he has a serious investment in that combo,and he deserves no less than the best it can deliver.

I'm just too mechanically minded I guess-if it's post processing,that will be learned in time.

One of the biggest reasons I posted about it was seeing it on another photo site with a 100-400. The lens was doing the same thing and the owner sent it back and it was repaired and now the owner is overjoyed with the lens.

[Steve Foss]

That info is good to know, MM. Thanks for sharing it. I don't find you "too technically minded" at all, and hope others don't, either. We're all helping each other out.

I've seen limited CA on six Canon lenses in certain situations, including four L lenses I've shot (17-40, 70-200 f2.8 IS, 100-400, 600 f4.) My conclusion is that it happens now and then with most lenses, even the top line, but it's very good to hear Canon will work to correct it if it's there.

Purple fringing, when it happens, generally is caused by high-contrast or backlit situations.

[MARINERMAGNUM]

Does use of a flash get rid of it in those situations?

Just curious. Thanks.

[Steve Foss]

I've never tried it, but I bet it would because it would eliminate some of the strongest elements of backlight/contrast, which seem to be pretty direct causes of CA. On the telephoto end you'd need a pretty strong flash or the use of a flash extender like the Better Beamer.

[Dbl]

If you don't mind my take and it is just for learning purposes only and it is not a knock on Mt. dews shot. I don't believe this is purple fringing at all, what you are seeing are the shots being treated with either the dodge tool, or art history brush. If you look at the shot, only the areas around the owl, trunk, and nest display this. What happens when you try to lighten a shadow area with these tools is they often display the blue or purple from the dark areas. The outer branches look underexposed but you can see where the rest were painted to lighten.

Mt. Dew can you elaborate on your PP? I am fairly sure the camera and lens are fine here and it is nothing more than PP causing the fringe look. Again I hope you take no offense in our guesses but hopefully we all will benefit by seeing how different tools can affect or own photos.

[mountaindew]

Hey guys!

Steve, Ken and all you guys..thanks for your replies!

Again I wasn't able be around my computer last night. Went shopping with my wife and the kids. Also took them out for Birthday supper for my wife. Didn't get home till late. Was tired, and went to bed!

Thanks for your kind words, ya all! I forgot to add C & C.. please critic anyway you see fit!

MARINERMAGNUM - No I'm no way whatsoever offended at all. C & C is the reason how I get better at this. No TC extender on these owl shots.

You know what? I think I have a serious problem overkilling the contrast, saturation. Pretty sure that's what's causing the fringing. I showed the pics online here to my wife, the first thing she said "I didn't know the owls were that orange." That's when it hit me, that I'd been doing this all wrong from the beginning. Overkilling the saturation!! So this is all me..like marinermagnum said he thought it was technical problem but pretty sure it's me, and it's an OPERATOR ERROR...

Here's what the original photo from uncropped RAW that I scaled down to jpg size for you to see...

Notice how it's under exposed? Because the background is brighter than the branches and the owl? Can't even see the owl's face? I couldn't decrease the exposure without making it worst. So I left exposure compensation in the middle. I though it'd look better if I increased the saturation. I also increased the highlights/shadows to get a better look on it's face. But it's WAAAYYYY outta of color...(sigh)

Here's what maybe I should have done without any saturation or contrast being done...Cropped...AND just the highlights/shadow tuning...

I never really realized how much damage I can do with too much saturation and all.

Do you think I should increase a BIT more saturation like this?....

What do you think?

Dan - You're right pretty darn sure it's the steps of PP that I took. Maybe you can help me point the "direction" how you do it? That goes for Steve and Ken too!

Here's what I usually do...

Load onto my computer, using the Canon Software that came with my camera, called Digital Photo Professional, it's like iphoto from apple, you can also play with the colors there too..but I didn't mess with it there, I just open it in photoshop CS3 and opens in RAW and I'd try to increase some colors and saturation in ACR mode, using in RED, GREEN, BLUE Primary, leaving the Shadows alone in the ACR. See here...

Pretty much left it alone in the Lens Corrections, Split Toning, HSL/Grayscale, Detail (where the sharpening and Noise Reduction is), Tone Curve, and the Basic (where the settings for Temperature, Tint, Exposure, Recovery, Fill Light, Blacks, Brightness, Contrast, Clarity, Vibrance, Saturation are located.. usually would leave these alone depending on the picture. Remember those settings can be modified before the photoshop actually opens the RAW picture. It's an RAW plug in for the Canon 40D that does all the settings.

Then on Photoshop, that's where I'd change a BIT more saturation, etc. also highlight/shadow.

Not sure what computer platform you people using. Windows or Macs?

Can you help me what's your workflow on the PP setting you use?

[mountaindew]

One more thing guys....

I'm going to add "C & C Welcome" on to my signature!

[Steve Foss]

MD, thanks for posting the original. I pixel peeped, and it looks like there is a very slight purple fringing issue at capture on some portions of the branches, and as I'd mentioned that gets intensified when sharpness, contrast and/or saturation on the image is bumped up.

But regardless whether it's happening at capture, whatever effect is there definitely is getting harsher in pp.

The easiest way around that is to leave the branches alone completely in pp. Just lasso the bird itself, sharpening and saturating and adjusting levels on the bird to suit your taste. With no altering of sharpness, contrast or saturation to the brances, the very slight CA, if that's what it is, won't even be noticeable, and if it's something that's a result solely of pp, that issue will go away, too.

When lassoing for sharpness, if you make sure you lasso just inside the outline of the bird, that will ensure you don't get a halo around the bird when you sharpen. But then, if you are going to alter the bird further with levels or saturation/contrast or shadows/highlights, you'll want to re-lasso the bird so every bit of the bird is lassoed, or else you'll get a strange look because the edges of the bird won't be selected if you maintain the lasso you did for sharpening.

Does CS3, in the RAW preview screen, offer an option to tone down the purple fringing form of CA? In CS2 I don't have one specifically aimed at purple fringing.

[finnbay]

 Quote:

Does CS3, in the RAW preview screen, offer an option to tone down the purple fringing form of CA? In CS2 I don't have one specifically aimed at purple fringing

Steve,

In the RAW preview screen in CS3, under lens corrections there is a screen for Chromatic Aberration with sliders for both Fix Red/Cyan Fringe and Fix Blue/Yellow Fringe.

[Steve Foss]

Thanks, Ken. That's exactly how it is in CS2. I've used that feature a couple times with nice success, but luckily rarely have an issue with CA with my lenses.

And it appears I didn't remember correctly, because both those CA adjustments contain the word "fringe," so that is aimed at fringing.

[mountaindew]

Steve, I was thinking exactly what you're saying. Only I'd duplicate the layer and erase all the background except for the owl, adjusting the saturation there. But that seemed too much work...

Yep Ken, I checked that Lens Corrections out there too...didn't really helped all that much out..need to spend more time on it to see if it really helps.

Also played with another Lens Corrections in the Photoshop under "Filters" to "Distort" to "Lens Corrections" that didn't help all that much at all neither..

[Steve Foss]

Marc, I haven't fooled much with layers to this point, though I know there are a lot of good techniques that use them. About the only time I use layers right now is to blend images.

Sounds like isolating the owl in a layer of its own would allow you to do just what we are talking about.

[mountaindew]

Yep. Will try that method later on...

Thanks!

[Dbl]

Marc, I always work in layers, its non-destructive and it is so easy to make adjustments, but there are many ways to go about doing this.

Simple way open your shot and open either levels or curves adjustments and bring up the mid-tones. I am not a fan of Hue/Saturation because it is to global and can lead to some funny color shifts. I prefer using Selective Color, now you can go under each of the colors and get even more colors for adjustment. It is very easy to control any colors that need work especially your whites, neutrals, and blacks.

If working in layers I duplicate the background layer but select either screen (to lighten) or multiply (to darken) for the layer type. The nice part about this is you can adjust the opacity of the layer to get exactly the look you want. Now add another layer for a levels adjustment if needed. You can now use Selective Color to bring out colors and add a bit more pop to the shot.

[buzzsaw]

Looks like the GHO a few miles away from me over off of Cedar Ave/Dodd Rd.