Leslie Larson
January 2025 - Northern Pygmy Owl
About the Image(s)
This photo is a composite I made several years ago. The Northern Pygmy Owl was in a cottonwood in autumn (October 30th). An early snow had fallen and I liked the patterns of the leaves and melting snow. So I combined the two. Instead of the sky, the background is now the ground beneath the tree.
Canon Rebel T3i, f/5.6, 1/200, ISO 200, 300mm.
14 comments posted
Leslie, do you have Pygmy Owls where you live? We have Barred Owls but they are very elusive. I love the owl and the leading line branch. I also like your snowy background but not for this. I feel the owl was taken horizontally and the snow is a downward vertical. I am concerned the viewer would be confused. I put your excellent owl on a different background. What do you think? Posted: 01/07/2025 17:02:55
Yes, we have Northern Pygmy owls here (different from the pygmy owls of AZ). I'm not a fan of your new background. My perhaps misguided attempt at artsy was inspired by some photographer I read about, doing that exact thing...pulling the subject out of the frame and inserting its ground environment behind it. I'll send the photo with the original background which may have been a better choice? You can be the judge.
I put this one in to see what the response would be. I look forward to others' responses. Posted: 01/07/2025 17:34:06
I put this one in to see what the response would be. I look forward to others' responses. Posted: 01/07/2025 17:34:06
I like it when images make people think and try different things. For an artsy attempt I like yours better also. Posted: 01/07/2025 18:16:51
Leslie, my interest in bird photography has only been a few years capturing photos of about 50 different species, but never lucky enough to even see and owl much less photographing one. I like the posture of the bird and looking directly at you is a great. I like the composition of the owl on its tree branch, both in sharp focus with clear details in the feathers and the bark of the tree. Kudos to your artistic creation. It is interesting and done very well per your description of the process. Seeing the original processed photo before the composition would be interesting as well. Posted: 01/09/2025 10:33:13
I sent Tom the original, if he wants to post it, it's fine with me. The sky isn't interesting and there are a lot of branches, some of which I cloned out. Posted: 01/09/2025 16:48:20
Posted: 01/09/2025 16:57:45
Posted: 01/09/2025 16:58:17
Posted: 01/09/2025 16:58:50
FYI only. I have 2 burrowing owl preserves in Las Vegas. I bought the land fenced it in and built the burrows. This last spring there were 29 babies. I live in las Vegas and photographed some nice western blue birds today. Posted: 01/13/2025 00:56:37
I like both but would prefer that you work with the original as my initial thought was WHAT!? Posted: 01/13/2025 00:51:32
"What" was the perfect response. It's supposed to be artsy and make viewers take a second look. I think in retrospect I like the one with all the yellow leaves on the ground.
wow, your own burrowing owl preserves. What a lovely thing to do. Posted: 01/13/2025 15:47:07
wow, your own burrowing owl preserves. What a lovely thing to do. Posted: 01/13/2025 15:47:07
I second the one with the yellow leaves. Posted: 01/13/2025 16:46:31
I think the original background is best. When compelled to think about it, I can imagine in the submitted image the bird may have been perched in front of a snow covered wall. But mostly my first response is also "what?". I do admire the creativity here. I wonder if an interesting version could be had by blurring, liquifying, or otherwise abstractifying the substituted background. Posted: 01/14/2025 02:22:11
I also prefer the original background, perhaps the first version of what Tom posted above but crop out about half of the blank space at the top. But I mu
st admit that the composited background does have some artistic merit.
Posted: 01/14/2025 16:00:25
st admit that the composited background does have some artistic merit.
Posted: 01/14/2025 16:00:25