Stretch

[Grace Scalzo]

For my 4,000th (or close) post, I want to share with you one of my favorite images from this winter. This beautiful owl didn't stay for long on Long Island, but I had a luxurious afternoon with him after everyone else left. He didn't do much but as dark fell, he gave this one sweet pose showing off his bloody talon then took off for his nightly activities. Nearly ff, removed a grass blade that intersected his head and an ugly exposed root.

Thanks for all your support and encouragement throught my many years on BPN. You have all helped me to stretch my wings and grow as a photographer both by critiquing my work and by sharing yours.

1/1000, f 5.6, iso800
Canon 1Dx, 500 f4 1.4tc + tripod

[Evan Cain]

Absolutely a gorgeous bird. Very cool to see those pure white males. Love that the bird is on neutral gray sand and that you can see his bloody talons.

Only thing that I don't really like is the mound of grass and sand to the left of the frame, but not much you can do about that, luck of the draw.

[Grace Scalzo]

Thank you Evan. That's the way our beaches look, after Superstorm Sandy. The snowies who visit us in the winter always tuck in around the doons during the day to rest and take shelter from the wind, and this is all that's left of the dunes.

[Loi Nguyen]

Grace, this is an absolutely beautiful shot. I don't mind the mound off grass. It's part of the habitat and its really not that bothersome. Love your low angle and full frame shot! You must be within may be 15 yards of him. Perfect exposure, nice pose, and nice OOF BG. Well done.

[dankearl]

Beautiful photo, fitting for the occasion.
Most of us look to you for critiques and suggestions!
I like the sand and habitat a lot.
It looks wind blown and smooth to me, the BG is very nice.
Here's to many more.

[Evan Cain]

The snowies who visit us in the winter always tuck in around the dunes during the day to rest and take shelter from the wind, and this is all that's left of the dunes.

Ours do the same here on the West coast. Except instead of using the dunes, they use 500 year old trees with five foot diameters that have become drift wood . You're lucky to have much better opportunities than we do..you can actually see and photograph the owls :).

That has to be the whitest male I have seen (or seen photographed, rather). We had a similar male here at the mouth of the Columbia River, however, it unfortunately had a little more barring on it's secondaries and primaries. Lucky you :)

[gail bisson]

Hi Grace,
Congrats on 4000 posts and thanks for all your help and critiques.
I really like this. The bloody talon makes this shot.
Love the stretch and your usual awesome IQ.
I am OK with the grasses as this is their environment.
Gail

[Melissa Groo]

What a sublime bird and image, Grace. I just love the contrast between that pure white serenity and then the view of the bloody talons which speaks to the lethal hunter in him. I am fine with the dune grasses.
Congrats on your 4,000 milestone. Thank you for all the help over the last couple years that I have been on here. You're a vital member of this community with an unerring eye. I learn as much from your images as I do from your feedback.

[Jim Crosswell]

Excellent image Grace! I like the speed skater pose, IQ, low angle and setting. Congratulations on your 4,000 posts.

[Frank Schauf]

Nice composition and excellent exposure control and sharpness.

[Randy Stout]

Grace:

Thanks for the fine image and your valuable contributions to BPN over the years. You once mentioned on a spoonbill image of mine that I often have a little something extra in each image to catch the eye and add interest, and I have always felt the same about your images. Looking forward to the next 4,000 posts.

Cheers

Randy

[Marina Scarr]

Congratulations, Grace, on 4000!!! I have really enjoyed your images and all of your contributions over the years. Maybe one day we shall meet.

Love the environmental feel to this one, and the stretch and bloodoy talon really kick this one up a notch.

[Shawn Zierman]

Light quality: Excellent.
Setting: Beautiful and definitely has the east coast beach snowy owl "feel" to it.
Techs: Spot on.
Shooting angle: Spot on.
....Owls have such flat faces. In regards to eye contact, generally, both eyes showing
better than this, or one eye showing well without the other showing works better imo.
That being said, the subject pose is awesome...

[Sandy Witvoet]

ROCKS! I love everything about this image...(oops... ALMOST everything.... ) removing that stray little stringy weed infringing on the bloody talon might be good. Great work!

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Great image to celebrate the milestone, Grace. Love the stretch and the bloody talon.
Your images are beautiful and your critiques instructive. Looking forward to many more of both.

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

4000 is quite a busy poster LOL. Great image Grace and the environment works well here. I like the soft light too.