Snowy Owl

Boundary Bay area, British Columbia | January | Canon 1D4 | Canon 600mm | 1/200, f4, ISO1600
I am forever influenced by the paintings of Robert Bateman. Can't wait to go back to Vancouver this March for more owl photography.

It is quite appropriate to mention the name of a well-known Canadian painter who currently lives in British Columbia.
It is appropriate as your picture evokes painterly quality in a good sense. Love the OOF foreground vegetation, the misty background, ruffled pose, and composition.
Beautiful work, Matthew.

I love Bateman's work and this is truly worthy of comparison! Just gorgeous!!

Lovely photo Matthew. My only suggestion is to check to make sure the snowies are still around in numbers before you come. The few times I have been out lately I have not seen as many.

Beautiful work as usual, Matthew. The fog really gives it a mysterious and evocative feeling. I remember you talking about Bateman once, so I looked him up and now follow his work on Facebook, where he posts regularly. I think he would be very honored and flattered to see how your work is inspired by his. I really like your comp and the sense of habitat here, really lovely image.

Love the atmosphere of this image, super composition, makes me feel cold looking at it, in fact I am just going to pour myself a glass of malt whisky!!

A really evocative image, Matthew, in the best sense of the word. Beautiful image. Although it is great as is, it occurred to me that a crop of the right half of the image, framed as a vertical, might work too as an alternative view. Not better of course, just a different view. Extremely well done.

A great mood captured. The flat light and mist add up to make a wonderful image.

Great feel to this image. The environment is nice and I love the feathers on the bird.

Nice work Matthew, it looks like the ideal place for photographing snowys.

Beautiful composition! Sometimes less is more as they say and not cropping tight on the owl was a good call. The fog gives the image a true wilderness feel to it.

What a great image. The subtle foreground tones really frame the owl nicely.

Really beautiful. What a shot!

The mist, and the darker eyes through mist speak so much. Sets up an intense mood The amount of habitat visible also is perfect.

IMO-1.The owl sits too close to the top edge
2. the broken branch extending into larger part of the picture is somewhat distracting. Having said that, I wouldn't do anything about either as I try to keep it as natural and as shot as possible in terms of cloning out stuff

Wow!!
Spectacular shot!!
Love the mood the fog created here.
Excellent comp and pose.
Well done.

I like the dreamy mood and fog ambiance here w

I, too, love the mood of this lovely image....