Snowy Owl Tango

[Brian Wong]

EOS 40D, 70-200/2.8 at ~200mm
1/3200, f/5.6, ISO 200, handheld, manual exposure metered on snow, and confirmed on histogram
baited

Snowy Owl Tango

Image of Snowy Owl photographed last month in Quebec Canada. There was a strong wind, and I liked the effect on the ruffled, and puffed-up feathers.

Thank you for looking, and your suggestions are always appreciated.

[Randy Stout]

Brian:

Very appropriate title, I see it!

Lovely bird, the pose is different and striking. Great extension of the upper wing with good detail. Whites look good. I like the composition, might try a small crop off the right and add just a bit on top,but nice as is.

In a perfect world, I would wish for a bit better eye contact, but what you have fits with whats actually going on in the image, so it works OK for me.

Thanks for sharing this beauty.

Randy

[Daniel Cadieux]

Nice subject, pose, and title :-) I like the chosen comp and the sky looks great with a tiny bit of gradiant in it. There is only one thing that bugs my eye though...that is the yellowish tinge on the owl. Yes I realize it is most likely caused by the light but I would rather see the owl in a "purer" white plumage. Here I've first selected the eyes and feet, inversed selection (so they are no longer selected as I want to preserve the yellow in them), and desaturated the yellow channel a good bit.

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w98/dancad/BrianWong-Copyright-IMG_747.jpg

[Arthur Morris]

I agree with Randy about wishing for wide open eyes looking at the camera. Taking out the yellow in the white is OK but the original post was fine with me there as the light looks sweeter.

Assuming that this was baited please indicate such in your post. Thanks.

I do love the COMP and the pose.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Great pose, details and exposure control. Since the shutter speed is quite high I guess it was not made very early or very late and like Daniel's repost.

[Kim Rollins]

I like it just as you posted it. Nice light and great capture.

To me it shows the owl looking and directing his attention toward the way it is making the turn.

Very well done!

[Brian Wong]

I agree with Randy about wishing for wide open eyes looking at the camera. Taking out the yellow in the white is OK but the original post was fine with me there as the light looks sweeter.

Assuming that this was baited please indicate such in your post. Thanks.

I do love the COMP and the pose.


Thank you Artie! Yes, I mentioned it was baited (sorry for the small print :) )

Thank you Randy! I may have another image with more direct eye contact for you.

Thank you Daniel! You have very keen eyes. The original had a blue cast from from all the snow and ice. I did try to "warm up" the owl some .. maybe a little too much. Thank you for the repost!

Thank you Axel! Yes, while it was not mid-day, the sun was very bright.

Thank you Kim! You are correct as the owl was concentrating on the bait as he/she was making the turn, and preparing for the dive (into the stong wind).

Thank you all for the great feed back!