Snowy Owl - The Bigger Picture.

Sometimes having the subject smaller in the frame works wonders, such as here. Same individual and same perch as the previous image I shared, but I like this one better even though the subject is quite smaller in the frame...I love the perch and surroundings so I wanted to include more of that "agricultural" habitat.

Incidentally, can you believe this is a December 27th image? Most of what you see here should be white and covered in snow! It was like that just last week, but everything has melted away with a recent warm spell...but now the cold has returned, and soon the snow again.

Canon 7D + 500mm f/4 II, manual exposure, evaluative metering, 1/320s., f/4, ISO 800, FF, natural light, handheld, lightened the eyes' irises, toned down the bit of yellow patch running behind the subject's tail.

Perfect....
The perch and FG are just excellent and the BG color is also.
Has a lonely country feel, out of place for the Owl, but that is kind of the point......

I agree Daniel, some of my favorite images are not cropped tight, but are good examples of the habitat and area I visited. Nice feel to this one.

It's true Daniel, this is a winner! To be honest I didn't appreciate the fence in your previous image, for me it was a human factor, almost out of place or unnatural. But in this pic, it ads drama! The BG darkness and the dried grass in the FG all work in the same direction. The contrast with the white Owl that should be in the snow closes this drama sensation I'm getting. You could have called this something like: "Snowy Owl on a browny Christmas" :)

hahaha you could add a few big question marks over the snowy owls head! Where the XXXX is the snow!! :)

Great image Daniel and as you say, small in the frame really works here

Lovely environmental style shot Daniel, the image is a great mix of the natural and the man made, but for me, these types of shots work, as although the perch is obviously man made, owls will sit wherever they fancy, so for him it becomes a natural choice.

He contrasts well with the dark background, and as per usual the techs are spot on

Really nice image. Sometimes habitat shots like this one works well.

I like this a lot, I like it better than the tighter version. The grasses set the foreground, the weathered fence post leads the eyes to the owl, the background works with everything in the image. Lovely image Daniel.

I agree Daniel, I like this one a bit more than your previous one. The foreground, i think, is what makes it that much better.

Very cool Dan! love the enviroment and colors.

Happy new year! hope to see you again soon!

Another beauty, Daniel. All said above. Have a Happy New Year!

Like this over your excellent previous post. The post perch is excellent

Daniel:

Excellent, comp, exposure, colors, all good.

Happy 2015!

Randy

Happy New Year Daniel!
Love, love this shot. (You know that already!)
Great mood to it and the grasses and post are so nice.
A superb image! This would look great on the wall with all those dramatic colors.
Gail