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Dudley
Dudley
jmsetzler


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Square Crop (Advanced Editing IV)
Collection: Portfolio
Camera: Canon EOS-10D
Lens: Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L USM
Location: Hickory, North Carolina
Date: Mar 5, 2006
Aperture: f/4
ISO: ISO 200
Shutter: 1/400"
Galleries: Animals, Black and White
Date Uploaded: Mar 5, 2006

 I had to go to the airport in Charlotte, NC this morning, so I decided to make a stop at the Carolina Raptor Center on my way home. I didn't think I would get much in the way of photographs because the sun was quite bright. I shot a few photos of "Dudley" though. Dudley is a great horned owl. He's a permanent resident of the Carolina Raptor Center. He can't be rehabilitated and released into the wild. He suffers from a condition called "imprinting." Dudley doesn't know that he's a great horned owl. This condition occurs when humans take very young wild animals into their homes as pets. Dudley did not get the opportunity to learn the basic survival requirements to be a great horned owl. He didn't learn how to hunt his own food. Because of this, he can't survive in the wild. Imprinting is an irreversible condition. To complicate Dudley's situation, his human owners fed him raw hamburger meat. They thought that since this raptor was a carnivore that hamburger would make a good diet for Dudley. The hamburger meat didn't provide the proper nutrients for Dudley, especially clacium, and his bone structure is very weak. Think twice before you take one of these raptors as a pet. In the United States, it is illegal to do so.

Post Processing:

Adjusted levels, burned white feathers slightly, adjusted curves for maximum tonality, converted to black and white via channel mixer, added slight warmth with another curve, and cropped to a square format...

Predictions:

Score: 5.85

This is one of those photos that will get a little bit lower score because the average viewer will want to see it in color rather than black and white. I also expect that a few folks will want to see both eyes in full rather than the slight profile view I captured here. Some black and white enthusiasts may like this photo...

EXIF:

File: IMG_5877.CR2
File size: 7,520KB
Image Serial Number: 558-5877
Camera Model: Canon EOS 20D
Camera serial number: 0420100366
Firmware: Firmware 2.0.0
Owner: John M. Setzler, Jr.
Date/Time: 2006:03:05 15:43:22
Shutter speed: 1/400 sec
Aperture: 4
Exposure mode: Av
Flash: External E-TTL High speed sync
Flash exposure compensation: -1
Metering mode: Evaluative
Drive mode: Continuous: frame 1
ISO: 200
Lens: 98 to 280mm
Focal length: 280mm
AF mode: One-shot AF
Image size: 3504 x 2336
Image quality: Raw
White balance: Auto
Color space: sRGB
Saturation: Normal
Sharpness: Normal
Contrast: Normal
Sharpness level: 0
Tone: Normal
Custom Functions:
CFn 2: Long exposure noise reduction: On
CFn 8: ISO expansion: On

Statistics
Place: 23 out of 369
Avg (all users): 6.5511
Avg (commenters): 8.1875
Avg (participants): 6.3862
Avg (non-participants): 6.8500
Views since voting: 1494
Views during voting: 307
Votes: 225
Comments: 18
Favorites: 1 (view)

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AuthorThread
 Comments Made During the Challenge
Nikon D50
Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6
 03/12/2006 09:07:41 AM
Love the expression, focus and tones here. Your conversion to b/w is well done! One of my favorites from this challenge!
Canon EOS-5D Mark IV
Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8 L USM III
 03/12/2006 06:51:16 AM
Great shot, I esp like your use of DOF.
Nikon D70s
Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED
 03/11/2006 06:05:05 PM
nice sharp detail
Canon EOS-1D Mark II
 03/11/2006 04:34:07 PM
stunning. You don't need the border it would look great without
Canon PowerShot Pro1
 03/11/2006 04:19:18 PM
Great shot, nicely framed. Good work.
Fujifilm X100VI
 03/10/2006 07:35:02 PM
Wonderful in b&w. The dark background and nightly dark tones and contrast suits the owl, a nightly predator, well.
Nikon D700
Nikon AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 28-70mm f/2.8D IF-ED
 03/10/2006 09:56:55 AM
Who? hahaha! All joking aside this is a beautiful study in b/w with amazing detail and beautiful lighting. Well done!
Canon Canon 1d x Mark II
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L USM
 03/09/2006 11:33:37 AM
A fine speciman is Dudley and a fine piece of work this is. Impressive tonal range distribution, it adds a whole lot of kick to it. It almost looks as if he has tears welling up in the lower part of his eye :) I gotta ten you for this one!
Canon EOS-80D
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0 L USM
 03/09/2006 07:55:31 AM
wise entry. whoooo knows how it will do? I love the one prominent eye, the fur-esque feather texture; brilliant.
Canon EOS-50D
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L USM
 03/07/2006 08:56:48 PM
Wow excellent composition. This is an amazing shot.
Canon EOS-5D Mark II
Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM
 03/07/2006 07:31:44 PM
Beautiful owl and I like the use of b&w here.
Canon PowerShot S2 IS
 03/07/2006 09:37:58 AM
Nice contrast, details. It's beautiful.
Canon EOS-20D
Tamron AF 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di II for Canon
 03/07/2006 09:17:18 AM
Great contrast and incredible detail. Very nice!
 03/06/2006 01:19:54 PM
Very clear, great detail
Nikon D70
Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED
 03/06/2006 10:23:58 AM
Outstanding focus and lighting.
Canon EOS R5 Mark II
Canon RF 24-105mm f/4.0 L IS USM
03/06/2006 09:07:32 AM
Would like to see a deeper DOF on this one.
Canon EOS-7D
Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4.5 DC Macro for Canon
 03/06/2006 08:31:30 AM
Tack sharp focus. I like the 3/4 profile too but wish there were a touch more of the eye to our left. The detail of his feathers is nicely done. Upping the score on 2nd review.
Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi
Sigma 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DC OS for Canon
 03/06/2006 12:29:58 AM
I prefer a deeper dof, but this isn't too bad.
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