4/5/2004 3:55:52 AM

Absolutely awesome, Gunther!

4/5/2004 5:53:59 AM

Terrific image! Love the selective coloring!

4/5/2004 5:55:25 AM

Great job Gunther!! The eyes really dominate your design but the felling of action is powerful also! Terrific catch and PS work.

4/5/2004 9:01:34 AM

Thank you for the comment Murry, Marie, Joy, and Donna. I guess I spent hours trying to select the photo that best captured the essence of this owl. Listening to the trainer describe how great of a hunter the owl is, and how they have the best ratio of kills for a bird of prey compared to other hawks and eagles for example- made me want to try to catch how the owl would swoop down on it's victims. Although the trainer is actually still holding the bird here. He lifted his arm, held out some meat, and then dropped it to simulate how the owl would take off with concentrated determination and will.

It seemed fitting to accentuate the fixed attention of prey to victim. -G

4/5/2004 10:15:55 AM

WOW, this is outstanding, excellent detail and closeup. well done Gunther!!!!!!!!!!

4/5/2004 12:09:55 PM

Caramba!!this is a real marvelous austanding shot. Bravisimo!! Viveca.

4/5/2004 1:31:50 PM

4/5/2004 1:42:27 PM

Great job Gunther

4/5/2004 3:37:20 PM

Gunther, it is my opinion that it would not have the same effect in color. I love the sepia and the way you manage to capture the owl itself. I myself have encoutered four times this amazing birds with camera in hand, and have not been even half fast to capture it. Viveca.

4/5/2004 3:50:03 PM

Gunther,great work.
Larry Jackson

4/6/2004 11:40:24 AM

Thank you Larry for your recent comments on both my owl pictures. I find them fascinating and love taking pictures of the bird of prey! -G

4/6/2004 1:02:05 PM

Gunther, what an amazing capture and beautiful manipulation! I love the way you made the eyes stand out! Outstanding image!

4/6/2004 7:51:40 PM

This has to be my favorite photo! I think the sepia really sets it apart and brings all the attention to his eyes - very dynamic! I'd love to learn the duotone effect. Fantastic image!

4/13/2004 2:09:25 PM

Congratulations, Gunther!!!

5/13/2004 9:04:35 PM

Really incredible capture. Captivating. Congratulations on your finalist.

Nancy
nance.c@poboxes.com
nacespace.com/photos

5/13/2004 9:12:29 PM

Hey1 good luck with the coming prizes, this one can make it. Viveca.

5/14/2004 7:22:13 AM

Congratulations again Gunther, this is Outstanding!!

5/14/2004 8:38:07 AM

Hi Deborah Sandidge,
In response to your request I'm posting this for everyone to see and use. The duoatone effect was achieved using Photoshop and if you follow these simple steps you'll find it quite easy to do. First of all once you've opened a photo, make sure you're on a the top layer in your layer's palette > go to the Image tab and select the drop down menu and you'll see the mode tab > select the the grayscale command and you'll get a box that tells you that all the layers will be flattened into one. Make sure that you've saved a copy of the exact size and resolution, which you will use in a minute. After you've turned the photo into a basic black and white > you now go back into the Image tab > Mode> and select duotone > pick the two colors that will give you the sepia quality. Usually I pick black and a brownish tint. I often use Trumatch 8-b. Click OK and you have your sepia toned photo. You will now need to adjust the contrast in your Image> Adjustments > levels or curves command. Now to re-introduce color back to your photo you need to select the area in the copy that you made and make a copy of the selection. All you do is paste it back into the sepia/manipulated version. But, there is a trick! You must make sure that you've changed the Image> Mode > back to RGB mode in order for the color to be re-introduced. That's really all there is to it! Sounds more complicated than it really is. If I showed it to you on the computer you'd catch on in a second. E-mail me directly if you have any problems! - Thanks Gunther

5/14/2004 9:24:22 AM

Still love it! Congratulations! -K

5/14/2004 11:44:03 AM

Congratulations Gunther!
Thank you very much for taking time to respond regarding the duatone manipulation in Photoshop! I really appreciate it, and will keep your notes handy. I'm anxious to give it a try. Your owl image is quite the inspiration!
Thanks again! ~ Deb

5/14/2004 4:31:05 PM

Awesome! I love what you did to this!! Congrats!!

5/14/2004 4:34:38 PM

I'm going to quote Jill "AWESOME"

5/16/2004 12:45:52 PM

Thank you Leanne and Jill for such an AWESOME review! Again thanks to K.S., and Deborah- I hope you have fun trying this technique! -G

5/16/2004 2:32:47 PM

Congrats on your win!

5/19/2004 1:21:13 PM

Nice one Gunther! Congrats on your win!

5/19/2004 1:31:22 PM

Congratulations on your WIN Gunther !!

5/19/2004 1:36:06 PM

Great work, congrats!

5/19/2004 2:18:26 PM

Big "Cs" go out to you Gunther!!!!

5/19/2004 2:18:33 PM

Congratulations, Gunther.

5/19/2004 2:18:37 PM

Congratulations, Gunther!

5/19/2004 2:24:31 PM

Congratulations on your win Gunter!!

5/19/2004 2:35:40 PM

Congratulations, Gunther!

5/19/2004 2:51:39 PM

This was one of my favorites - congrats on a well deserved win! -K

5/19/2004 3:19:06 PM

Congratulations, Gunther, and it was very nice of you to share your technique!

5/19/2004 4:03:23 PM

Gunther, this is a fantastic capture! I love it!!! Congratulations, you sure earned it!!!!

5/19/2004 4:03:50 PM

Way to go Gunther very well deserved.

5/19/2004 5:02:08 PM

Congratulations!!!

5/19/2004 5:12:15 PM

Congratulations Gunther! Great shot!

5/19/2004 6:15:29 PM

congratulations, Gunther - excellent image!!

5/19/2004 8:02:55 PM

Super work, Gunther! Many congratulations on your Second Place!
Monika

5/19/2004 9:35:04 PM

Remarkable image. The sepia did the trick. Lovely representation Gunther. Thanks for the sepia advice. Take care and CONGRATULATIONS..............

Donna P.

5/19/2004 10:54:12 PM

Many congratulations on your win, Gunther! Well deserved! Beautiful image!

5/19/2004 11:47:58 PM

Man Gunther, this is awesome! I missed it but it sure is wonderful. Congrats on the win!

5/20/2004 6:52:52 AM

Gunther, my friend, congratulations on this terrific win. It is richly deserved. Extremely well done - Allan

5/20/2004 8:13:28 AM

Outstanding capture Gunther! Congratulations on your big win, this is well deserved!!

5/20/2004 1:12:46 PM

Congratulations Gunther, this is an amazing capture!

5/20/2004 1:49:11 PM

Thank you for all he great comments! I am so happy that BetterPhoto picked mine out of so many excellent captures! I would name each and everyone of you, but I would rather spend the time looking at your work and commenting. Again thank you everyone! -G

5/20/2004 3:41:25 PM

I wanted to thank you for explaining the duatone effect. I tried it out today. I always wondered how it worked. Let me know how I did. It is the 'Bait Boat Maintenance' photo, entered in the general catagory. It was difficult the first time I tried, I will need more practice. Your work inspired me and I thank you for that Gunther!! Regards,

Donna P.

5/20/2004 4:26:21 PM

Congratulations! Maybe the makers of Harry Potter would be interested in this! :-)

5/20/2004 4:26:53 PM

This is a jaw dropper!

7/21/2009 3:23:51 PM