Northern Hawk Owl...

[Geoff Newhouse]

Here is another frame of the Northern Hawk Owl.

Handheld
Canon 1DX Mk II
Canon 600 f/4 II + 1.4TCIII
840mm, f/5.6, 1/400, 400ISO

[arash_hazeghi]

Handsome owl and good light, I like the HA but wish the eyes were a bit more symmetric, the lack of catch light in its right eye where it also looks like you raised the exposure makes it look a bit funny, I'd either add a catchlight there or eliminate the catchlight in the left eye, there is halo around the perch most likely from masking and the BG is noisy. finally the owl's face is a bit over sharpened and shows some artifacts. You sure got a solid base image to work on, with better processing you can definitely make a winner out of this one,

TFS

[David Salem]

You sure are getting some nice action with this beautiful little species of owl. I like this one. The perch looks like it's coming right through the bird, pretty cool. I like the the direct stare, but as you have already figured out, its' hard to get both eyes perfectly lit.

I did some subtle adjustments and posted an edited version on how I would have handled a few of the minor issues with this sweet capture. Hope you're ok with it :)

I did some eye work to the right eye. I lightened the yellow of the eye to match the color of the other eye that is in the light. I then used the catch light from the lit eye and moved it to the other eye. I also reduced the pupil size because the eye in the shade has the aperture opened a bit more to bring in more light.
I then added more canvas on the bottom and took a bit off of the top. Lastly I adjusted the contrast in levels and brought both the blacks and whites up a bit. Not a huge difference but I think it looks a little better. TFS

[Geoff Newhouse]

Thanks Arash and David. David I like what you did with the eye. I will try that myself and see how it works out!!

[Mike Poole]

A lovely simple pose of a great subject, and all nits already covered.

Mike

[William Dickson]

Well done Geoff, lovely frame, and Davids repost takes it up a notch.

Will

[Joseph Przybyla]

Lovely image, Geoff. Ditto on David's edit and repost (his work inspired me to revisit an eye on a Burrowing Owl). Thank you for sharing.

[Frank Schauf]

Beautiful portrait, great details and eye contact.