Snowy in early morning

[arash_hazeghi]

Here is another young male, the pupils are wide open in low light (I bet it's better than f/1 !!!)

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1D4 700mm f/5.6 1/1000sec ISO2000 (+ 0.5EV in post)

[Arno Ellmer]

This is superb,Arash.The bird against the great bg and the soft grasses ,showing some of the environment , makes this image for me. Beautiful pose and amazing eyes.

[PRABIR BHATTACHARYYA]

Beautiful catch. Made more so flor the eyes.

[Clemens Vanderwerf]

Another beautiful image. I like the contrast with the background and the similar tones in the feathers and bkgd.

[jack williamson]

Another beauty in this series Arash, very high IQ, great bg, and that stare...

Jack

[Grace Scalzo]

To me, owls are all about eyes and this one is perfect. Love his wet tail and feet. You have a wonderful collection of owl images from this winter.

[Bill Dix]

Gorgeous. Just the right hint of environment in the calm fg/bg. Wonderful eyes.

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Gorgeous eyes, lovely environment and terrific IQ at that iso. What a series!

[Jay Gould]

Mate, you have mastered the craft!!

[Sachin Saraf]

Arash, This is another fine image from your snowy series....I really liked the OOF grass stems in the image...

[Roman Kurywczak]

I really like the vegetation inclusion.....works very well here with a great pose and BG.

[Keith Carver]

Wonderful pose, detail, comp, BG, and eyes! Love the grasses. One of the better SO portraits I have seen.

[Kiran Poonacha]

Loved the setting here bhai.. Beautiful looking owl this...

[John Ippolito]

Stunning image of the snowy in habitat. Light, details, pose, perch, eyes, and oof grass make this over the top nice. Excellent, Arash!

[Dave Leroy]

Lovely photo Arash. You have really captured the essence of the Snowy West Coast season. Low light, wet, lovely perch, a bit of habitat and perfect pose.

[Morkel Erasmus]

I always love seeing these birds. Perfectly exposed and well framed.

[Tom Rambaut]

Excellent in all regards. love the grass and perch.

[dankearl]

The perch is so good, it looks like you just finished putting a coat of lacquer on it before the shoot.
Oh, the bird is pretty nice too!

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Just beautiful. I love everything about it especially how the eyes pop against that soo cool bg

[Arthur Morris]

Killer perch, bird, grasses, light, and especially, the EYEs! What makes this a young male???

[arash_hazeghi]

Killer perch, bird, grasses, light, and especially, the EYEs! What makes this a young male???

The mostly white forehead?

Thanks!

[Arthur Morris]

The mostly white forehead? Thanks!

My understanding is that all young of the year Snowy Owls, males and females, look like this bird--heavily streaked with super-fresh feathers. The two birds that I commented on previously were about 1/2 white from the middle of the breast upwards. And they looked much more worn. I suspect that they might have been sub-adult males. Adult males are pretty much all white.

[arash_hazeghi]

My understanding is that all young of the year Snowy Owls, males and females, look like this bird--heavily streaked with super-fresh feathers. The two birds that I commented on previously were about 1/2 white from the middle of the breast upwards. And they looked much more worn. I suspect that they might have been sub-adult males. Adult males are pretty much all white.

Thanks Artie, I thought the one with more heavy streaks in the forehead was a female?

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[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Artie, I thought the one with more heavy streaks in the forehead was a female?

I am pretty sure that the differences in these two birds is individual variation. I might be wrong..... As I am in cold, windy Tokyo I do not have access to my print copy of Birds of North America. Let me know if you turn up anything definitive.

[arash_hazeghi]

I am pretty sure that the differences in these two birds is individual variation. I might be wrong..... As I am in cold, windy Tokyo I do not have access to my print copy of Birds of North America. Let me know if you turn up anything definitive.

Thanks Artie, I don't know myself either. maybe someone who has the book can chime in?

[Arthur Morris]

I am pretty sure that folks will need something on the advanced side to properly age this species...