Screech Owl

[Troy Lim]

Screech owl is my favorite owl in Florida. While I have not seen many images posted of this species, I have been very fortunate to have this opportunity to photography them this season. Here is a shot that I shot recently, full frame right out of the camera, converted into black and white to give a different feel. I included the nest in this composition to show more of the environment. What do you think?
5D Mark III, 400mm 5.6L, 1/400, f/11, ISO1600, filled flash, full frame.

[arash_hazeghi]

very cool Troy, it is a handsome bird. can you post the color version too?

[Troy Lim]

very cool Troy, it is a handsome bird. can you post the color version too?

Will do later tonight.

[Bill Dix]

The owl is very handsome. The b&w and comp do make it different. I'm not sure it completely works for me; I'll have to come back to it. But it is nice to try something a bit different from time to time.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Cool, the B&W works well enough except for the large dark hole which competes with the owl (and perhaps wins) for attention.

Moved to OOTB, which includes "desaturated" images.

[Nancy Bell]

Hi Troy, bet you didn't expect to land in OOTB. Glad you're here! The little guy is adorable. But I agree with Daniel that the large dark hole is overwhelming. Visually it is hard to compete against bright& white or dark & black. Maybe try a version without the nest hole?

[Marina Scarr]

I personally don't agree with moving this image to OOTB, but rules are rules. I think this image has potential. While I don't have any experience with B&W, I have a feeling someone with some knowledge in this area could really make this image pop much more than it does now. Morkel in wildlife really knows his B&W. You may wish to ask him for a little assistance.

I really like what you've done with the composition on this one, although I would have to see just a tad more on the bottom.

[Cheryl Slechta]

Hi, Troy, great capture and I like it in black and white. I like Marina's suggestion that it needs a little more pop.

[Bob Miller]

Troy...nice capture! I would increase the contrast to bring out the blacks more