Sleeping Beauty

[Karl Egressy]

He/she does what most diurnal hunters do during the day; sleeping.
I post the head shot for the reason that I was intriqued by the beautiful pattern of the feathers on the eyelid.
I will post the full frame at a later time.
Taken on the first day of 2013, found it again a couple of days lated but then it moved on.
Thanks for looking.

Canon 1D MIV
Canon 300 f2.8 L IS
Manual Exposure
f 6.3
1/320 s
ISO 800

[Faraaz Abdool]

Wow, stunning shot Karl. Never seen such an intimate portrait before! The feather detail blows me away. The leaves at the top left add to the image, although I'm sure many would disagree. To me they seem like a sort of canopy, emphasizing the fact that this is a sleeping bird.

[Bill Dix]

Thanks for posting this one, Karl. The eyelid feathers are indeed fascinating. Great capture with marvelous detail. Looking forward to the full frame.

[Daniel Cadieux]

A sleeping beauty indeed, and it looks quite peaceful. Love those eyelashes, and I too like those pine needles a top of the frame. Perhaps a bit more saturation, or a warming of the WB would be good IMO.

[Diane Miller]

I agree with all above -- very well done! What would you think about just enough crop from the top to get rid of the horizontal part of the branch?

[Joe Senzatimore]

I like the green above. Wonderful details in this one. Nice mood.

[gail bisson]

This is lovely Karl.
I echo Diane's idea of taking the horizontal branch at the very top of the frame,
Gail

[Jim Crosswell]

Excellent image Karl! I like the details, sharpness, peaceful pose and composition.

[dankearl]

Unique image Karl and it works for me.
Normally I always want to see the Owl eyes, but the feathers make up for it.

[Karl Egressy]

A sleeping beauty indeed, and it looks quite peaceful. Love those eyelashes, and I too like those pine needles a top of the frame. Perhaps a bit more saturation, or a warming of the WB would be good IMO.

Thanks Daniel, thank you all. Here is one version, being a little warmer and the branch is gone.

[Raymond Lee]

Great shot and fantastic details! The repost looks pretty good!

[Satish Ranadive]

Absolutely superb close-up with fantastic details.Nice colors and beautiful eyelid feathers.
Love it.

Regards,
Satish.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Karl, not only do the feathers on the eyelids add interest, there's plenty more excellent detail to look at throughout the sleepy head. Yes, the pine needles at top do work, and repost rocks.