Northern Saw-whet Owl #2

[Bill Dix]

Same bird, captured on New Year's Day. Another frame, this time with a head turn and one eye open. Would have liked to get a frontal stare with both eyes open, but I was lucky enough just to get an almost unobstructed view. I was looking through a tiny opening in the vegetation, so a move of a few inches either way obstructed him. Subsequent visits have found him buried deep within the Junipers.

D500, 500f4, ISO 3200, 1/320s @ f/5.6 manual; Gitzo and Mongoose.

[John Mack]

Like how the owl is tucked in there nice and tight. The fluffed up look is nice as well.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Bill, lovely and cozy, nestled and framed in between the branches. I do like the detail, and maybe lightening the eye a touch may help.

[Mike Poole]

Just superb Bill, I liked the previous frame, but the open eye means this knocks spots off the first. Agree with Stu about possibly lightening the eye a touch

Mike

[Daniel Cadieux]

These guys are always a treat to find. I agree with lightening the eye (iris only, of course). Good job finding a keyhole through the vegetation.

[Arthur Morris]

Hi Bill, lovely and cozy, nestled and framed in between the branches. I do like the detail, and maybe lightening the eye a touch may help.

Smart man from where I sit. I used several techniques to brighten the iris; simply pulling the curve up a lot helped the most.

with love, artie

[Arthur Morris]

On a second look I would say that the curve on the whole image could have been pulled up. IOW, it is too dark overall for me as presented.

with love, a

[Bill Dix]

Thank you all. In this repost I've used Curves to brighten the entire image slightly, and then brightened the iris further. I appreciate the suggestions.