Phantom of the North

Here's my favorite Great Grey Owl portrait from my trip to Ottawa with fellow avian moderators Daniel Cadieux and Doug Brown. What a thrill to witness and photograph these amazing raptors. Phantom of the North is actually one of its nicknames. While they are the largest owl in the world, they are much lighter than the other large owls. They are about 1/3 body to 2/3 feathers.

Canon 1D4, Canon 500L F4 IS
F6.3, 1/2500sec, ISO 640, manual mode
Feisol tripod, Jobu head

C & C most welcomed and much appreciated.

Just beautiful Marina. Love the light on this one as I do the perch.

Love it! Perfect light, framing of the branches is lovely. Well done!

Great image Marina! I like the pose, perch, light, eye contact and composition. Although the owl is centered the vertical branch balances it out well. A real beauty.

Hi Marina, I like this setting with the pose of the GGO alongside the vertical branch on the RHS. Great eye contact with those lovely yellow eyes popping on the face, and I like the overall sharpness and DOF in the image.

I too would love to see this wonderful species in real life one day.

Very nice light and a different setting than a lot of the GGO photos recently posted.
The Owl looks terrific against that sky BG.

Looks great Marina! I agree with Jim that the vertical branch balances out the placement of the bird in the center of the frame. I like the hint of blood on the beak too.

Nice shot, 2/3 feathers, wow

The BG is what makes this shot so unique.
I like the way the perch branches form a semi circle around the tail as well.Perfect comp.
Gail

Excellent light and perfect perch, Marina. When I shot my first image of this species in 2004, I gave them my version of nickname; Prince/Princess of the Northern Forest.

Sweet perch and blue sky...I really like the claw being visibly gripping the branch. Vertical comp is very nice. Man, I'm still processing some GGOs from this winter!!

gotta love that image marina

I like this one allot as it not the typical GGO image I see. The light is beautiful as is the Owl and the pine perch. The BG looks great with the mottled trees incorporated in it. Very nice capture!

Marina, Fine image indeed! Just the right amount of environment which itself is interesting. Top it off with this great subject and you've got an image to cherish.

Marina, what a sweet image. The perch and the soft blue BG makes this image stand out.

Wonderful! (What they all said!) Love the very different environment!

Excellent details, love the perch, great pose and eyes.

nice image,like the BG and perch,sweet light,nice composition,and the owls not bad either:bg3:.well done.

Glad to see you've gone back and looked at your take from that trip a few months back, hoping to see a few more.

The setting and the perch is something to die for, love it.

I like that he is amidst the conifers. Well done.

Finally an image from your trip to Canada. I was beginning to think you went on an exotic date with a mystery man somewhere else:eek3:. I do love this portrait too. The perch has so much great movement. Nice soft light and great eye contact.

Really like it sitting among the pine branches especially with a blue sky backdrop.

Great BG and perch,sweet light,nice composition.