Barn owl

[Jonathan Ashton]

Tripod, mongoose head, Canon 7D Canon 500mm f4 & 1.4TC1 ISO 800 -0.3, 1/1250 sec f6.3
I spotted this barn owl one morning this week as i was walking Barney so I took the camera with me the next day and was rewarded with this shot. It was just one pass by and that was it but I hope to get more over the next month or so (looking at my previous images in 2011 it was active for about 4-6 weeks).
All comments welcome.

[gail bisson]

Very nice Jon.
I like the BG and your composition and IQ.
If I had this shot in my portfolio I would be over the moon and would think it was perfect...but this is a critique forum so I have to say I would love to see both eyes with a more direct gaze.
I like the fanned wing. Looking forward to more of this beautiful bird.
Gail

[Karl Egressy]

Great to have an active Barn Owl in youre area. We have none.
The flight image is very nice, excellent angle, evenly lit, and great eye contact.
I was wondering if it would improve the already excellent image by selectively do linear dodge on the darker green on the top left.

[Grace Scalzo]

Jonathan, What a nice image of a great bird. Love the hunting posture and gaze. Nicely exposed. The yellow dots are probably flowers but I would remove them in this image. I will be following your posts, hope you have more opportunities.

[Rachel Hollander]

You did extremely well in your one opportunity. Nice flight pose, comp and exp. I too am looking forward to seeing more as you hopefully have continued opportunities with this owl.

TFS,
Rachel

[arash_hazeghi]

this is great Jon, one of your best so far! congrats. I'd just sharpen it a bit more

well done!

[Doug Brown]

While not the greatest near wing position, you do have a nice look at the head. I like the habitat behind the bird. I think the image as posted is a little dark, and while I like the pano crop, there's a bit too much space on the left. Here's a repost with a bit cropped off the left, a curves adjustment to bring up the whites in the bird, and some additional sharpening. How do you like it?

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Jon, pleased as a bunny then. Great inflight capture, well exposed, and nicely separated from the BG. Good underwing detail on the far wing, and I like what Doug has done.

Good luck with the rest of your journey there, and make sure Barney behaves.

[Chris Kotze]

Excellent captured and a like the comp. Good with some more images

[Jonathan Ashton]

Thanks very much indeed everyone, much appreciated.

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Superb image, Jon. The bg is great and I like the original comp. Some more sharpening on the bird is all I'd add. Love it.

[christopher galeski]

very nice Jonathan,nice BG,like the flight pose,like the pano,and like Doug's post as well.thanks.