Elf Owl

[Rick Bowers]

Elf Owl female in Saguaro cactus nest. An image from my recent Arizona Nightbirds Safari.
Tucson, Arizona, USA

50D
500 w/1.4
1/200th f11 iso 400
550EX w/ BB
gitzo, wimberly

http://www.bowersphoto.com/images/Elf%20Owl%200092.jpg

Rick Bowers
Bowers Photo Workshops and Safaris
Tucson, Arizona, United States
http://www.BowersPhoto.com

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Cool to see an owl nest in a cactus. Eye contact and sharpness look good, too. I would try to get more details in the black area above the owl. It would probably also work as a vertical crop.

I figured out why the forum software can't create thumbnails. In the file name are spaces, which cause the problem, i.e. "Elf Owl" instead of "ElfOwl" or "Elf%Owl". If you avoid spaces in file names the problem won't occur anymore. Let me know if you have questions.

[Dan Brown]

Very nice Rick! Like the eyes/head sharp and selectively focused. I remember "back in the day" photographing one of these guys with you at the Santa Rita Lodge in the utility pole hole! Back when the lodge had a resturant!

[Randy Stout]

Rick:

The eyes are great. Nice to have enough cactus showing to tell what it is.
I might consider toning down/burning in the lighter area of cactus just below the hole, and consider a small vignette of the corners to keep our attention from wandering out of the frame.

Great fun.

Cheers

Randy