Short eared owl.

[keith mitchell]

Nikon D300
Nikon 500ml F4.
1/80@f6.3 iso 500.

A couple of years ago we had lots of these lovely Owls over wintering with us unfortunately the land is now back to intensive farming and the Owls have not returned.
Image taken from my car window from about 6 metres but as you can see the birds where very relaxed with my presence.I did think about removing the piece of grass what do you think? added a little canvas at the top.
Thanks for looking and any comment or critique you would like to make.


Keith.

[Girish Prahalad]

like the intense stare & the "boxer" pose. details & BG are excellent. personally would leave the blade of grass as it is.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Keith, well I'll kick off the feedback, easily started, I'm really going off you , love it and I am very envious considering the close proximity to the subject. The pose with the raised foot indicating the owl was just about to start, or finish some grooming is nice, obviously something caught it's attention. Personally I don't have an issue with the grass stem, but you will get better feedback from those who spend more time within the Avian forum, to me it softens the barbed wire. Am working on the laptop so never great, but I might tone down the vibrant green on the post, just to again soften the colour, although I know it can be quite bright. BKG to kill for, having a hint of mottling helps to break the overall colour up, subtle, but it works for me. Good detail around the eye and some nice detail there. Not sure if a sliver off the top may help, but no deal breaker.

1/80 steady hands, but with the D4 you now have, you just need to crank up that ISO with no worries.

Keep them coming, trust your not out & about today, blowing a gale up here, thank goodness we came up yesterday.

TFS
Steve

[Shawn Zierman]

I enjoy everything about the image, from the intimate close up view, great details, subject pose, eye level perspective, so on and so forth. The image is pure eye candy. I like the pop of color from the post!

[Karl Egressy]

Nice pose and excellent complimenting background. I'm not crazy about the perch but for them it is a natural perch.
Quite a few years back I visited a place on a regular basis just to see them fly and hunt in group, up to 19 individuals I counted once.
In recent years there are none.

[David Salem]

Awesome shot and pose. Everything looks great. The perch is the perch. I have the same problem where I live. Nice one!

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Keith, although the owl seems alert on something ahead, He does otherwise seem relaxed at the same time, with the raised foot. Great view of the eye, and what a lovely smooth BG. Comp wise, Im fine with the space on top, but wouldnt mind seeing a lit bit more on the left. Grass can stay. I realise wooden fence poles are never straight ( vertical ) but I would try a version with a touch of CCW rotation which would also 'level' the wire.

[Steve Kaluski]

I realise wooden fence poles are never straight ( vertical ) but I would try a version with a touch of CCW rotation which would also 'level' the wire.

Could be right here Stu, Keith all you need is 1.74 rotation, however you would need to recrop, hope you have enough image space around.

[Richard Unsworth]

A truly lovely image, the color and detail are superb

[keith mitchell]

Thanks guys, Stuart I have pulled the post over and dropped the green any better?

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Keith, I'm now going to throw a 'curved' ball in, what was the BKG, can you remember?

On reflection I think it's looking quite warm, my thinking is that it might be more 'cooler', especially as these are winter birds? On the RP I also might run some NR as the mottling might be due to you adjusting the Saturation balance?

As I said, I could be way off as I'm viewing on the laptop, therefore I would welcome your thoughts.

cheers
Steve

[keith mitchell]

Steve the Bg is dead winter grass only used saturation to drop the green on the post for repost, think the one you e mailed me is better.

Keith.

[Jamie Douglas]

Really nice work here keith and the rework brings it up a notch. Nice and sharp eyes and talons for 1/80 but I would bump up the ISO next time to get more shutter speed to bring out more detail in the feathers.

[Grace Scalzo]

Keith, the iq of the repost doesn't look as good to me, but I do like the rotation. I just love this photograph, barbed wire and all. the owl is a great subject and the pose is fun. Thanks for posting it.

[christopher galeski]

great capture Keith,love the pose and BG,the grass does not bother me,repost the eye looks softer than the OP.TFS.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Keith, OK, here was where I was going with regards to a more 'cooler' look based on a 'winter' scene. Hesitant as I'm not using a calibrated monitor, but...

Cheers
Steve

[keith mitchell]

Thanks a lot folks for your comments ,Jamie I would certainly bump up the ISO on my D4 but did worry about noise when using my D300.

Keith.

Thanks Steve it's good to compare.

[gail bisson]

Nice image and I like the raised foot and leaning forward position.
I agree about toning down the green and If this was mine I would clone out the wire fence. Very easy to do. I would leave the stray grass in.
I agree re:more ISO and more DOF to get more detail in the feathers.
A lovely shot. Well done,

Gail

[keith mitchell]

Thanks to you all much appreciated.

Keith.