Unusual Visitor

[Steve Large]

Hi Everyone,
Hope you are having a great start to your weekend. I know that seeing a Northern Hawk Owl on BPN isn't that unusual but to see one here on the south coast of British Columbia is almost unheard of. Here is a shot of our unusual visitor taken today. Brad (William), Currie and Ed Fisher and myself had a blast photographing this guy. He is very active and eats a lot of mice and is true to form and not at all afraid of humans.

All critiques welcome,

Steve

Camera Stats: Canon 50D, 500mm F/4 lens with 1.4X, F/8 at 1/400 sec, no exp comp.

[Paul Kusmin]

beautiful shot, I hope to head out that way tomorrow to see it myself.
very popular bird!

[Steve Large]

Hi Paul,
Thanks for your comment. Quite a feeding frenzy over here. Better get here early in order to get a good position on the hill :-)

Steve

[John Blumenkamp]

Awesome capture Steve... I like the lazy glance downward from the owl. I also like the main branch cutting diagonally across the frame. If mine, I might consider cloning out the lower brach extending straight down in the left part of the frame. Really nice as is. Congrats!

[Daniel Cadieux]

Seeing that this guy is so tame (as most NHOs are) you should position yourself with a better light angle. As is the light coming from the right has cast half of the face into shadow. I would explore cloning out the vertical branch at left. Glad you can get some good opportunities with this spectacular species!!

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Great find, pose looks good, too. I wish for a lower angle if backing up was an option, agree on the light angle with Daniel and might sharpen a bit less.

[Edward Fisher]

Steve , You beat me to it !
By posting a very nice image of the NHO.

I agree with the above comments about the lower branch.
I hope the both of you didn`t get to wet with that rain we had as I was leaving.

[Steve Large]

OK everyone,
Here is the repost without the branch. Hope this is better.

Steve

[Ramon M. Casares]

Nice RP, love the light, detail, exposre and relxed pose, this owls are very beautifull, congratulations!