Burrowing Owl in flight

[David Salem]

Took this at my local spot with a good group of owls in it. Lots of fun photographing these little guys. They have surprisingly large wings for such small bodies. This is a juvenile male. He is the best hunter of the 12 juveniles reared this spring.

He sees a cricket and hes off!!

1DMK4---500mm---f4.5---ss1/3200---ISO400---BLUBB w/car as blind----@7:30am

Thanks as always for looking and your input. Appreciated.

David

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Excellent shot in perfect light. IMO the slightly blurred wingtips add the sense of dynamism needed for a flight shot.

[David Salem]

Forgot to get rid of the shadow under the rock. Did it help? Thanks again for looking.

[gail bisson]

Hi David,
The owl is tack sharp and details are great.
I do prefer the repost and would get rid of the black line under the rock as well.
I would like a bit more room on the right.
An excellent shot,
Gail

[Shawn Zierman]

Wow, technically a very difficult image. From what I've read these guys are really fast.
A sweet bif shot of this species...love the rocks, and even though I would not have even
thought to get rid of the shadow (as it looks quite natural), the repost does indeed look
better...very nicely done.

[Uri First]

excellent capture

[Stu Bowie]

Hi David, looking at the concentrated stare, looks like he's seen his next cricket. I like the flight pose with the down stroke of the wings, sharp where it counts, good eye contact, and your repost does work better.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Very sharp on the face, and I like the wings down position. The rock is a little cumbersome but its coloration matches the overall tones of the image so that helps minimize it. Sounds like you have a ton of fun with these guys!

[Jim Crosswell]

Excellent image! I like the wing position, sharpness, complimentary rocks and BG.

[Satish Ranadive]

David:
Absolutely superb image.I like the wing position,nice lights,lovely colors and above all it's eyes.

Regards,
Satish.

[Jon Rista]

Wonderful photo. Not often that you see one of these beautiful birds in flight. Your skill is superb.

Personally, I think I prefer the original post rather than the one with the shadow of the rock removed. It's removal puts an odd spatial relationship in place that doesn't feel right. Instead of removing the shadow entirely, I'd opt for lightening it, along with the shaded part of the rock, to be less dominating. I think they are necessary to get a proper sense of depth in the scene, but they could be given less presence.

[Robert vanMierop]

Love the image, prefer the repost. I also agree with the slight blur at the wingtips giving the feel of motion.

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

I actually didn't mindthe shadow but maybe not as dark as well as the dark under the rock itself. The shadow seems to balance the comp for me somehow with it's horizontal line.

[David Salem]

Thanks everyone for your comments and suggestions.