Great Gray Owl Mantling Prey.

Earlier this week was about as much fun as I could hope for in the brutally cold temperatures we had. Great photo ops, and especially great company...thanks Doug and Marina for the enjoyable visit up here! A good time was had by all...and that at least kept our spirits warm.

The GGOs (as well as many other raptors) will often "mantle" their prey before consuming them. This allows time for one to drop down to eye level and get some intimate eye-to-eye contact with these beautiful boreal birds!

Canon 1D Mark IV (borrowed from Doug) + 100-400L @390mm, manual exposure, evaluative metering, 1/2000s., f/6.3, ISO 800, natural light, handheld, FF, baited.

Very nice ground level photo, Daniel. I like how the flanks are spread out on the ground; and how the bird stands out from that BG. Fine job.

Excellent behavior shot Daniel! I couldn't agree more about the good company making the cold temperatures bearable!

Congratulations to all three of you for seizing a great opportunity and braving the elements. You were definately rewarded with this one. I love the low angle and the owls pose. Those eyes just jump off the screen.

You guys must have had a lot of fun despite the cold...that you Dan are used to anyway:). Awesome low angle here , top quality in details and intense eye contact. Extra point pulling this shot off while downgrading to the MKIV:).

Saludos,

Lóránt

Beautiful, and you have my admiration for braving the cold!

What would you think about cropping from the top, about halfway to the top of the head? It's nice to compose with some room for text for stock images, but for presentation as a portrait, there's nothing happening in that top area and it loosing some of it would move the horizon off of center.

Dan:

Spectacular display of the eyes, excellent shooting angle, interesting behaviour, well exposed. Like the little bit of snow in the air in front of the bird.

I could see a minor crop from top, as Diane suggested, but not much, because of the more vertical pose, versus the long stretched out lines of a duck (or dare I say, LOON:S3:)

I could see a very light clone stamp of snow over the brush by the wing on the right side of the frame. Overall I really like the environmental component here.

Wonderful job.

cheers

Randy

you and Doug are killing me with these images!

The image quality is astonishing, about as good as I have ever seen here.
It looks like I am viewing it on an Ipad on my regular monitor.
It is not just the pose and the eyes, the photo just shines.
Couldn't be better.
You should have kept Doug's camera as a finding fee for taking him to the Owl!

A spectacular image. The eyes are riveting with an excellent POV. I really like the fine feathers on the GGO's right side. TFS. I think the composition is just right.

Fantastic stare, composition is superb and I can feel the cold. Especially keen on that BG.
I have not seen a better image

Hi Daniel,
Like the effect of the little bit of fog near to the ground. Or is that out of focus snow? Great light and nice details as well. Don't get these guys out on the west coast as much as I would like. Hasn't been a sighting out here for a couple of years. One of the birds that tops my most wanted list for sure.

Steve

Those eyes are just awesome! Fantastic shot.

Gary.

After being absolutely MESMERIZED with this image for several minutes... I thought... slight crop? Then.... NOT! An incredible shot which combines technical talent.... behavior and environment... all rolled into one. This, as a large print, when mounted on a wall... viewers would need to step back from to get the full impact. "The Eyes Have It"! (Whew).

This is really a spectacular image, Daniel. You seized the opportunity. The wispy feathers on the left and all the environmental details add a lot to this image. That powerful facial disc is the icing on the cake!!!

I just can't stop looking at this one! The eyes are stunning.

All been said, a wonderful image, nicely done Daniel. Everything works so well, love the light, snow, killer BG, congrates.

Lovely image, Daniel. I look forward to seeing more. Braving those conditions has certainly paid off with some stunning images.

Sweet shot Daniel, I was able to get up there yesterday and had a blast meeting a few old friends while there.

Stunning image, Daniel. I could stare at this image for a long time.
Not much else to add. Congrats!

Thanks a bunch all, glad you like it!! Diane, a small crop from above would indeed work, thanks for the suggestion.