Thanksgiving Day Snowy Owl

[dankearl]

Taken this morning at the Oregon Coast.
Another irruption year in progress, it appears.
A lone Owl, it just seems so odd that they find there way this far south or
maybe this is the New Normal.

1/1600, f7.1, iso640, 600mm, D800, Handheld

DSC_3247bp.jpg

[Grady Weed]

Dan, You might want to check out the blue tinge and re-post. I love the pose and background, the blowing grass

[laurie golden]

He looks great to me. Nice composition and blue sky! I hope he stays around and is joined by others. I have been watching OBOL and E-Bird hoping there would be several in one place like last year.

[gail bisson]

I am so jealous of you west coasters!
I like the POV on this guy.
Nice perch and I like the blowing grasses behind the bird. I like the textures in the wood.
I don't see a cast on my monitor but when one is green with envy the color sense may be off!!
I could see this as a vertical if you had the space.
Just lovely!
Gail

[Jim Crosswell]

Excellent image Dan! I like the perch, pose, setting, eye contact and IQ. I am seeing a blue cast on this image too.

[Melissa Groo]

I as well see a blue cast. But what a wonderful image. Lucky you to have some time with a snowy today. Something to be thankful for, for sure! You've done a great job with your comp and I like how the grasses are slanting one way and his body and the perch are slanting the other way.

[Dan Busby]

That's a terrific shot Dan. What a great perch and very nice grass detail. I too see a bluish cast.

[jack williamson]

The color cast has been addressed otherwise this is beautiful!

[dankearl]

Thanks for the comments.
I had the same problem with the Owls last winter.
I am a terrible judge of color caste, but I did the same thing
this time, changed WB from auto to cloudy, these seem to be about
the only birds where I need to do that.
Also cropped to vertical per Gail's suggestion, just to see how it would look.

DSC_3247bp2.jpg

[Don Nelson]

Dan
Here's a repost with both color casts removed.
Good you caught this one at Ft Stevens. Nice break in the weather today.

[Randy Stout]

Dan:

Wow, another good years for owls! Amazing.

Nice environmental feel, great eye contact. Yes to the def. blue cast. Don's repost clears that up nicely. Normally I would prefer a looser crop than the repost, but the right end of the log is pretty heavy, so some cropping works for me.

Cheers

Randy

[dankearl]

thanks Don, it looks good.
yes, the Ft. Stevens Owl, awful easy to get too.
He/she is 100 yards from the parking lot. Quite a few people and it was flushed a few times, but doesn't seem to mind the
attention. It just flew from one nice perch to another.
I will need to take care with the caste on others I do, got quite a few on different perches, the weather and light was superb.

[Raymond Lee]

Great shot Dan! I would stick with the vertical crop and Don's colour balance adjustment!

[PhilCook]

Too good .....too good ......really envious of this one Dan, but I do prefer the wider aspect showing more of that lovely grass background.....and yes to Dons color cast tweak.

[Satish Ranadive]

Wonderful image of owl in beautiful environment.Love the pose,grass around him and his eyes.
Re post by Don looks very nice. TFS.

Regards,
Satish.

[Grady Weed]

Nice re-post Dan. I do prefer the wider image in the OP. Both are nicely presented however. TFS.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Dan, love the eye contact and angled perch, and both comps work for me.

[OvidiuCavasdan]

Beautiful image, very nice pose and sharpness. I like the vertical crop, the environment looks perfect.

[Jack Breakfast]

Orig. post is far more interesting to me, but the last thing I'd do is sneeze at either of these presentations. Casts are tricky! Don't I know it! What a wonderful look at this excellent ghost right where he lives!

[Karl Egressy]

Beauty shot of a great Owl, Dan. I like both crops.

[Bill Dix]

Just got a chance to see this one -- a beautiful image. Color cast has been dealt with, and both crops work beautifully. I guess I like the added environment in the original post but would be thrilled with either one. Very nicely done.

[Corey Hayes]

Love the background in this shot.