Short eared owl (Asio flammeus)

[Jonathan Ashton]

HH, Canon 5D IV Canon 500MM F4 L IS II + 1.4TC III
Auto ISO 1250, 1/2500 SEC F6.3

ACR+ PSCC

Thank you to all commented on my previous post.
This owl was taken against the light, it was just about to drop down into the marsh.
I deliberately left the attached grasses because the feathers are irregular in feature just under the wing so attention would be drawn there and it would have looked as though there had been some poor cloning.

[John Mack]

Like the light here. Nice to see something thats not front lit. The Pose is nice. Also like the vertical crop.

[kevin Hice]

Like the legs hanging,not so sure of the side light or back lit. I find the specular highlights more distracting than the grass.Wing position is great.

[gail bisson]

I like this and I am really glad you left the little stick on him. It tells a story.
Comp, wing position, fanned tail and legs look great.
I would burn that brightest specular highlight but otherwise no nits from me,
Gail

[Geoffrey Montagu]

Excellent capture, Jonathan. It's all here with great wing position, fanned tail, legs extended, and face with both eyes showing. Personally I like the back lighting, and there's enough ambient light for the rest of the owl.

Geoffrey



http://500px.com/geoffreymontagu

[William Dickson]

Very nice Jon...love the flight pose and the back lighting. Did you have to raise the shadows much..I would have chosen the 5D4 before the 1DX aswell, photographing these birds.

Will

[Jonathan Ashton]

Thanks everyone I did make a version without specular highlights but decided against it, I wanted a “true” image. Will I did raise the shadows but not too much because I started to lose contrast.

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the composition, wing position and setting. Nice image Jon.

[dankearl]

I have to say I am not real keen of the backlight but the details are nice.

[Chris van Rooyen]

Hi Jonathan, for me this is a spectacular frame - the backlit background is what makes an already stunning image even better for me. The pose is perfect.

[Alex Becker]

Super late here Jon, but I really enjoyed viewing this shot a bit back, but have only been able to make time now to comment unfortunately. The backlighting works here, and the pose is great. Love the tangling feet and stick. TFS