Whadda YOU want?!

[Jake Levin]

After flying off into another field to dispatch something or other (the remains of which can be seen in her talons!), this snowy perched on a fence post and just stared me down. I love the expression in her eyes, sort of a "Go ahead photo guy, make my day!" look, but at the same time I'm kicking myself for not crawling a foot to the right and getting all of the right eye. Does that make this one an insta-delete? I'd appreciate your thoughts.

Thanks as always!

Exif: 7d mkII, Sigma 150-600 (which I now recommend heartily, but watch out for the occasional vignetting at full zoom...easy to fix in PS though), 1/2500 @ f/6.3, ISO 800. Converted in ACR, crop and basic edits in PS.

[Mike Poole]

A nice look at the owl here Jake, nice little detail with the remnants of the meal.

Certainly not an inta-delete, but if it was me, I'd be slightly bugged with the eye and it would be near the top of my checklist for the next opportunity.

Mike

[Isaac Grant]

Love Snowies. You have an interesting perch and a nice pose and background. Love the bloody talons!

Feels a little tight in the frame for me. I do not see good fine feather details on the bird and it appears that the post is sharper than the bird. Was your focus point on the face? If so you may have some back focusing issues with your lens. Bird also appears to have a blue cast to it that is an easy fix. As Mike says the head angle is not ideal as you would prefer the birds head/eyes to be looking at you and well lit.

[Bill Dix]

A handsome look at this Snowie. Personally I don't think the eye angle is a big drawback, although I suppose in a perfect world a step to the right would have been nice. Easy to say when I'm not distracted by the thrill of the moment. But for me, the lack of fine feather detail in the whites is unfortunate. I don't know if a bit of NIK DE or Topaz Detail, and/or some additional sharpening would help, or if it is a focusing issue.

[arash_hazeghi]

love the view of those talons but I agree with Issac that details are lacking in this one. If you wait long enough you will get a direct stare with both eyes looking at you

TFS