Barn owl

Some Barn owls have been showing well during the day, presumably to stock up on food whilst the prey is out and about due to the bad/cold weather. Managed a few hours whilst the sun was out , and I am hopeful to get some more this weekend. This bird has an injured leg but seems to be hunting well.
Have been getting a lot of soft shots recently of BIF, hopefully just due to low light levels- any advice much appreciated.
50 % crop. darkened the image, enhanced clarity and sharpened in ACR, Then in PSE10 blurred the bg to smooth out , brought the levels in a little more, sharpened the bird twice, once after resizing for the web.

Canon 1D mk IV,
Canon 500 f4 is + 1.4 conv
ISO 800
1/2000 sec
f 5.6

Ivan:

I think you got the luminosity just right on this one. Sharp, well exposed. Seems odd with the one leg down, hope he survives.

Nice comp.

There appears to be a slight masking artifact along the top edge of his left wing (right in the image)

There is also a faint horizontal line near the bottom of the frame, and I would try to soften that just a bit ( unless it is a shore line?)

Look forward to more.

Cheers

Randy

Thanks Randy, the horizontal line is a wire fence in the bg, I will get rid of it for my print that I amd going to do of this shot- thanks for pointing it out.

Sharpness, light, BG, subject all look good. That faint line is an easy fix. I do wish the near wing was opened up more and lit better...but I still like this.

Excellent shot Ivan I know just how tricky these birds can be and then one day the goof fairy luck is with you. Great detail in the bird, I like the pose, I would do a little brushing or patching in the background here and there just to smooth slightly. I look forward to seeing more of this beautiful bird.

Agree with above. Great shot, can't wait to see more.

The first thing I noticed here was the terrific light and the super sharpness/details on your owls face. You really nailed your exposure. In a perfect world, I wish either both or neither foot were down and that the wings were more symmetrical. I think the comp would be even more appealing here with some off of the left and a smidge off of the bottom.

I would be thrilled with this.
Great light, very attractive BG.

Terrific shot!!!
I really like the flight pose, very nice light, great background, and nice details.
Very well done.

excellent light, pose details and BG.