Great Horned Owl Stare

[Moe Ali]

This is my second encounter with a Great Horned Owl. My first wasn't so great with poor lighting and the Owl being perched quite high in the tree giving me a poor angle. This guy caught me by surprise.

I was out hiking near the river and making my way through some deep snow in the trees so that I could cut to a different area of the shoreline. I then got this weird feeling and spun around to lock eyes with this Owl. I tell you it was a fantastic moment, getting that sudden encounter and making eye contact. I probably stood there looking at him for a minute before I even raised my camera to snap a few quick shots before he (or she?) decided to leave. The Owl gave me a few good full views, but the background wasn't all that great, and I had the sun at a side angle. I went a few steps closer, grabbed a few more quick shots and then mistakenly stepped on a branch that made a nice clean snapping sound. The Owl decided it was time to leave, but man was it a rush!

This image is roughly 50% cropped, I wanted to capture the birds stare. I like how one pupil is slightly more dilated than the other.

Canon 7D mark II + 300mm f4 IS + 1.4x
Handheld
1/160 shutter
f/5.6
ISO 640
+1 Exposure Compensation

Thanks for any feedback you can provide.

[David Salem]

What a great experience you had getting close to this owl. I know how exhilarating it can be. Nice ID frame but as an artist frame it has a few flaws as you already mentioned.
The BG and side lighting didn't help but maybe you will get a better one next time. Keep shooting!

[arash_hazeghi]

Great eye contact and details, the BG and side light worked against you here

TFS