Ground Owl

[John Hawkins]

I went out again today and photographed my "neighbors". They wouldn't come down off their perches today. This was photographed using my Sony A100 with a Sigma 50-500 lense. The data-f/6.3, 1/200, +1.0 ev, ISO 400, 330mm. I was not sure which way to crop. Crop from the left or from the right? I see I need to crop a little from the lower left corner to get rid of the yellow line of the road. All C&C's welcomed, Thanks,John

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Those are hairy legs!

Great looking fellow, the look back head turn really works here. Love the clean BG (but I can see several dust bunnies) Another round of USM on the bird is needed.
I wish for a more natural perch but I know some times is just impossible... still, I wish this would be in my files.

[Arthur Morris]

Crop the the left. Image design with the cross cut off less than ideal. VERT would hve worked.

Tip: when the owls are out of sight, duct tape a natural perch to the cross and to one of the corner posts; the owls will almost always land on these higher perches....

[Steve Canuel]

Nice light and I like the look back pose. I would crop vertical on this, closer to the left side (as viewed). Gives him some room to look into and would eliminate/reduce the yellow line you mentioned. I might also give it another pass of sharpening.

[Mitchell Krog]

Fantastic image John and such sweet light. Well done.

[Nagesh Mula]

Beautiful image. I agree with the crop suggested by Arthur Morris.