A Favorite Snowy Owl Image

[Loi Nguyen]

I know it's been late in the season for snowy. So this is the last of the series I took with Daniel this past February in Ottawa

1DX
70-200f2.8 II + 2.0 III @ 400mm
1/2500
f9
ISO-1600
Handheld

Owl was baited
Cropped right and bottom.
Cloned out a spectacular highlight in the BG

Appreciate your comments.

thank you

Loi

[Ashleigh Scully]

Hi Loi - great choice of crop I like the wide comp on this. I havent seen many snowy shots with the talons like that either great job. It would only be better if there weren't trees in the background

[Holger Leyrer]

For snowy owl images like this is always season. :S3:
Starting pose and the whirled snow under the talons are great. Exposure control is perfect. Well done, Loi.

[Cheryl Flory]

The talons, eye contact, and the snow in motion is a big plus in this image for me also. You don't even have the shadows in the eyes that is so frequent. You said you cropped on the right, why?

[Troy Lim]

Stunning shot. :)

[Marina Scarr]

Lovely flight image, Loi! Love those piercing eyes, and seeing the talons is a big plus.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Great shot Loi, perfect exposure-that F9 at 1600 ISO works perfectly, what lovely detail! I personally like the presence of some trees in the BG, gives perspective and that 3D feel to the whole image:w3

Kind regards,

[Andre Pretorius]

Love the crop and comp, well done.

At what time of day was this shot, for a 200-400mm lens even at F9 with whites at 1600 ISO?

Please excuse my ignorance, have no experience with snow..

Nice one, Lo

Andre

[Eric Dienesch]

Really a great picture. thx for showing it.

[Edward Arthur]

Haunting shot. The bright yellow eyes against the snow totally make it for me.

[Sandy Witvoet]

Awesome, Loi! Really shows off that incredible wing-spread and intensity in the eyes.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Looks good Loi, good job with the comp, exposure. Love the snow flying off both talons. I'd eliminate the object in the FG...

[Loi Nguyen]

"I personally like the presence of some trees in the BG, gives perspective and that 3D feel to the whole image" - same here, thank you Gabriela. Loi

At what time of day was this shot, for a 200-400mm lens even at F9 with whites at 1600 ISO? Andre, this shot was taken about 1 hour or so before sunset when the sun was low in the horizon. And it wa staken NOt with the 200-400mm f4, but with the 70-200mmf2.8 plus a 2.0X III extender. Because of the 2X extender, I chose to stop down 1 1/3 stop to maximize the sharpness. The 1DX can take care of the ISO-1600, no problem.

Thank you everyone. After posting and reviewing a numbor of snowy images from the trip, this has become my favorite image.

Daniel, I'm away again, so will look into your suggestion when I'm back home. It was a truly great experience for me with the snowies, so thank you so much for showing me around.

Loi

[Karl Egressy]

Great incoming flight shot, excellent composition. Love the wing stretch and eye contact, Loi.