Elf Owl at dawn

[Terry Sohl]

Taken on the outskirts of Tucson this April. I waited next to the saguaro with his roost hole, and he landed in a bush 15 feet away right before dawn. Curious little dude...hung out there until about 10 minutes after dawn, while I madly clicked away.

Canon 20D, 400 5.6L, ISO800, 1/125, F5.6, 430EX@-1 2/3rds. Would have preferred a tad more DOF, but wasn't much for light here.

[Tony Whitehead]

Lovely pose and eye contact, Terry. I agree re more DOF but you didn't have much light to work with. Good to have the eyes sharp. I would darken down or patch out the OOF branch in the BG passing through he head.

[Dan Brown]

Great shot! I agree with the above comments. I would suggest quick masking out the OOF branch in the BG.

[Nancy A Elwood]

Absolutely lovely!! I love owls. With the above comment done, enlarge it and hang it on your wall!!

[Aidan Briggs]

Nice pose, and head turn. I don't usually like square crops, but it works well with this image. As said above OOF branches in the BG are distracting.

[Fabs Forns]

Expression is priceless! I'd get rid of the offending gray branch also :)

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Great find, eye contact and agree regarding the branch. I might give it a bit more room.

[Linda Robbins]

What a cutie, and such a great expression. More dof would have been nice, but you did a great job in the low light conditions and the face and eyes are razor sharp. Removing the oof branch will improve this lovely image.

[Mark Schmitt]

Can't add much more to what has been said, or suggested. Just cast a vote for a good shot.

[Stu Bowie]

Lovely eye contact, and great feather detail captured. Well done Hus.