Bald Eagle and snow flurries

Canon 1D MKIV
F 600mm II
ISO 800
F 6.3
SS 1/2000
Cropped by 30% left and bottom and canvas added to the RHS. I used the rectangular marquee tool to select the BG of sky and treeline on the LHS of frame( that I cropped out from final image) and used the move tool to move it over to the RHS and then blended the seam with the clone tool at 50%. It took 2 minutes to do!
Not baited. He was being harassed by a crow and banked sharply to land on the ice.
Comments and critiques always learned from and appreciated with thanks,
Gail

Very nice Gail. I like the comp as presented. Great head angle and banking position. The yellow feet and beak really provide a nice focal triangle. I wish the snow flakes were a bit more discernable and maybe the eyes could use a tad more contrast/sharpening.

Hi Dan,
Thanks for the great observation re: sharpness. I forgot to sharpen the JPEG for online presentation.
Here is the sharpened version.
The flurries I can't do anything about!:S3: More like lake effect snow really,
Gail

Dynamic pose. I like the position of the tail in the vertical position that shows how the BE uses it as a rudder. Great head on look. I do find the snow a bit distracting.

Nice pose captured Gail, I like the resharpened version.

Striking image, Gail Love the pose and eye contact. Great PP work.

The pose is killer and very sharp,
Since the flakes are really not really clear, I would just blur the BG with NR.

Gail:

the details, esp on the near wing and body are very nice. A different pose. In a perfect world I wish he was turned a sliver more our way to show more of the rear wing, but strong as is.

Nice job on canvas movement.

I am agreeing with Dan about the snow. Just not quite distinct enough to be compelling, would probably loose it.

I did fiddle with the snow in Color Efex Pro, tonal contrast, and could bring it up a bit, but not a great improvement.

Cheers

Randy

Hi Gail - dynamic pose and the rp rocks it. I find myself also agreeing about the snow. When I first viewed it before realizing from your title, I thought the snow was noise so I would probably try some NR. Nice job on the pp and canvas.

TFS,
Rachel

Great pose Gail and I like your placement. Repost looks better and the snow is cool yet at first i must admit I mistook it for noise before i looked a little closer.