Snowy Owl at the local construction dump by the lake

[Jack Breakfast]

Friends and foes, it behooves me to share with you a slightly different portrait of a snowy owl. This lovely gal was seen at the Leslie Street Spit in Toronto's East End. For those of you good folks who aren't familiar with the spot, please know that it is a construction dumpsite during the week but is open to the public on weekends and holidays and is something of a bird and wildlife sanctuary, more or less. Anyhow, I'll be the first to admit that the "IQ" here isn't exactly top-notch but nonetheless I am fond of this little portrait and figured I'd share it here. After all, it's raptor month! Thanking you for your consideration once again...
Shot with the Canon 7D, 70-200 f4, 1.4 teleconverter. 1/800, f5.6, iso320. Never mind the settings, I'd change them all if I could go back in time, but life is what we make it, etc etc.

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[arash_hazeghi]

I like the feather and nice eye contact, for me the main issue is the rusty wires in the FG and the parts of belly and tail that are blocked by the rocks. I wish you could get him on a better perch :)

[Jack Breakfast]

Ha! As I look at this I see that the horizon is not 100% straight! My brain is crooked; apologies...obviously I'll straighten it but I won't repost now because it's time for bed

[Jack Breakfast]

No kidding! But I take what I can get when I'm shooting owls at a construction dumpsite...

[arash_hazeghi]

No kidding! But I take what I can get when I'm shooting owls at a construction dumpsite...

if they are local you can setup your own perch ;)

[Jack Breakfast]

Ha! That's a thought...

[Vivaldo Damilano]

Jack what a great subject. If possible go with Arash's suggestion on perch, you could end up with some great images.

[gail bisson]

How lucky you are to see this snowie. Good IQ and great idea about bringing a perch or two that are more photogenic,
Gail

[Jack Breakfast]

Personally speaking: the use of perches is contrary to my own convoluted ethical code. I cast no judgement on photographers who use artificial perches as they are doing no harm and will generally end up with better images than, e.g., a beautiful snowy owl with some rubble in front of her. In my opinion, this shot would be better if there was MORE rubble and rebar and so forth, as such would lend context. As it is now, the photograph is not good, it is confused, although there are some nice things about it, but I posted it here because I was interested to see folks' reactions. As a matter of further interest, please know that bird photographers at the Leslie Street Spit are notorious for their despicable behaviour toward the resident owls. There are at least three species of owl there most winters. I won't describe the human behaviour that goes on there, but I'm sure you can guess: imagine having no feeling whatever for your beautiful subjects, and then imagine what you would do to get the best shots possible...that should give you an indication of what some (although not most) of the local owl photographers get up to. To conclude (if anyone is even still reading this) I'll say that I admire all the posters on this forum who admit to using artificial perches because certainly no-one would be the wiser. Thank you again for your comments, folks...

[Jack Breakfast]

The long-windedness continues...here's the original photo, ever so slightly cropped...still not a GOOD photograph, i.e., the junk in front of the bird is decidedly unphotogenic. Still, it's a truthful picture of where a snowy owl likes to live, here in my city. I feel like I'm in gradeschool typing things like this, and I don't generally sleep very well at night but anyhow, we all know that these snowy owls will live in some unusual places...different strokes, my fine-feathered folks...

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[Grace Scalzo]

Hello Jack. Thanks for posting your original capture. Let me take a stab at this one. Given that you are committed to capturing them where they happen to sit, then you've got to embrace it and make those elements work. When I saw your original, I thought it was too tight at the bottom edge. Now that I see this one, I see you've got more room, so I would crop it so that you leave "virtual room" for the owl's bottom. The rusted wires aren't quite as bothersome to me as the out of focus rock sticking up diagonally and cutting into her body. Could you have moved to your left? The other thing that doesn't work for me visually is the two-toned background. I would have either gotten lower (which might have increased foreground elements, or gotten higher and eliminated the white. It's been referred to as "threading the needle", you've got to look at the whole scene and see if you can position yourself so that the elements in it work for you. In any case, this is just my 2 cents....hope to see more from you of this beauty.

[Jack Breakfast]

Grace, your comments are thoughtful, and most sensible. If I could have moved to my left I certainly would have...I was very boxed-in, unfortunately. Perhaps my favorite element of the photograph (other than the owl's pose) is the two-toned layercake background. But as always, there's no accounting for aesthetics. I hope also to see more from myself of this beauty...the nice thing about posting on this forum is that people do tend to take a little bit of time and offer constructive suggestions...and I will close by saying that I am far from "committed to capturing them (birds) where they happen to sit" but rather, I am completely opposed to adding un-natural elements to photographs so as to make them more pleasing, especially given that one person's meat is another one's poison. So to speak. And again, I am posting this photograph as a failed attempt, but a good attempt nonetheless...perhaps someone else on this forum has visited the same owl and has had better success...that said, I'll be back, trying again...

[Steve Canuel]

Hi Jack,
I prefer your original version over the cropped one as I feel it better captures the surroundings you spoke of. Always interesting to hear another photog's thought processes on capturing and processing, whether you agree with them or not.

[Jack Breakfast]

Many thanks Steve, and obviously I agree wholeheartedly RE other photographers' thoughts on these subjects. It's the differing opinions and aesthetics that make other humans tolerable! Otherwise most of us would just hide among the birds and avoid humanity altogether. Wait a second...