Dean Hellinger

"Grumpy Trio"

June Image

How I did it -

Happy holiday. We are having a rainy weekend, perfect in my line of business. I have been fortunate to have two great horned owl nests in the neighborhood. This one has the three young ones and I've been taking pictures for a couple of weeks. One adult has almost almost always been with then until this rainy period. Yesterday I caught the "grumpy ones" They look not wise, but just a bit grumpy. Title: Grumpy Trio. The nesting tree is just off the highway so pictures can be taken from my vehicle. I did a bit of cropping, adjusted the colors a bit because the wet distorted them. I know they could be cropped closer, but I like the branches. I don't think Burt will flip this one. I'm also sending the "Owl Taking Off" shot, just because I like it. This adult didn't like my being close to one of the nests so I was able to follow it around from tree to tree until I got this.

Comments
Shelby Acton	They certainly do look grumpy. Wonderful image. I probably would have cropped a bit off the top and right. Other than that I would not have changed a thing. I also thought the extra image was a great capture also. Great job.
Eleanor Helper	Indeed. Nice detail. I like the framing branches. I wish the owls stood out more from the background—either lighten the birds or darken the branches.. As for the 2nd photo—I would like a border to differentiate bird from sky (?) and to separate it from your grumpy friends. Maybe even make it black & white, since you already have a bald sky.
Burt Hesselson	The owls certainly do give the feeling of a "Moody Trio" and are well shot. I find the branch above left somewhat disturbing and the tree trunk far right that leans not to be needed. I went again to Transform>Distort and pulled up the left side and also pulled over to the right some more at the bottom right. I also still have a blue cast on my screen, so I went to Hue and Saturation>Blue and desaturated a full 100%. Last of all, in the new CS3 the Image>Contrast is finally a very useful and competent tool (prior to this, it posterized the image too much), so I used it to bring out the owls from the background a little better.
Donn Miertl	Dean, wouldn’t you be grumpy if you had to pose for a photographer, in the rain and on a tree limb while he sits in the car? The shot is a good one and even though the colors and contrast are muted, the sense of the habitat is maintained. If you want the owls to smile put on your photographers rain gear and walk around, because if yours is anything like mine it will bring a smile to any observers face.
Michael Rosenbaum	Interesting shot of these youngsters. I like the framing accomplished by the branches. As you mentioned, cropping would be possible—if you went that route, I would crop just below the owls’ heads to emphasize the eyes. Good nature shot.
Larry Beller	. Your wonderful title says it all. I like it. I hope you don't think I'm grumpy, too, but I think your title and subject are furthered with a tighter cropping, something like the thumbnail. I like the simplicity of your "Owl Taking Off" even more.

Member Bio

Dean Hellinger - Biography

Greetings from Montana. I have been a member of PSA since l999. Started with a video circuit, enjoyed that but found it terribly slow, and there were quality problems in the tapes. Currently circulating slides for the first time, and haven't seen a full circuit, but it, too, takes a long time. Began photography with slides as a teenager in the l950s, started with a Zeiss, and currently have three Nikons. Have belonged to a local camera club for a dozen years. We have produced a number of videos of local interest related to history and geography. We also published a couple of calendars. Closed my dark room this year when I found myself having so much more fun in the computer. Have a beginner camera, a Canon S30 PowerShot, use Photoshop Elements, an iMac Computer, a Nikon CoolScan IV which gives me access to decades of slides, and a flat bed scanner, HP ScanJet 5370c for the black and whites. I am a retired farmer (raised wheat) from Shelby, Montana, and have always enjoyed photographing the changes in the seasons, pets, wildlife, everything. Have 20 years of newspaper published photos, some magazine and advertising work. Looking forward to learning more from this experience.

Dean Hellinger

"Grumpy Trio"

How I did it -

Comments

Shelby Acton

They certainly do look grumpy. Wonderful image. I probably would have cropped a bit off the top and right. Other than that I would not have changed a thing. I also thought the extra image was a great capture also. Great job.

Eleanor Helper

Burt Hesselson

Donn Miertl

Michael Rosenbaum

Interesting shot of these youngsters. I like the framing accomplished by the branches. As you mentioned, cropping would be possible—if you went that route, I would crop just below the owls’ heads to emphasize the eyes. Good nature shot.

Larry Beller

. Your wonderful title says it all. I like it. I hope you don't think I'm grumpy, too, but I think your title and subject are furthered with a tighter cropping, something like the thumbnail. I like the simplicity of your "Owl Taking Off" even more.