Young Burrowing Owl

[Dorian Anderson]

Another cheap shot from Cape Coral, where these birds are incredibly tame/approachable. I was just glad this bird was willing to stand on something
other than a mad-made wooden cross!

As I'm usually a slave to the super clean back/foregrounds, I decided to go the other direction and keep the foliage in focus in this frame (hence f/11).
I thought it added a bit of context in the lower part of the frame without distracting from the face higher up.

Canon 600mm f/4 IS II on EOS 1DX2
1/1000 at f/11, ISO 1000

[John Mack]

Nice light and pose on the owl. I do like the vertical framing. Yes the vegetation adds something more to the frame.

[Daniel Cadieux]

These guys are fun, no matter how tame they are! Vertical comp was the obvious way to go here, and yes, f/11 works well for me as well.

[kevin Hice]

I like that you can see the foliage. I think it was the way to go other wise the legs wouldn't be as defined. Lovely colors all around and great detail in the processing. TFS

[arash_hazeghi]

nothing cheap about a nice frame executed well, I am surprised by the iris color, never seen one with brown eyes like this even chicks... could it be some kind of genetic mutation or perhaps a disease ? needs some expert to chime in!

TFS

[Joseph Przybyla]

Hi Dorian, I think tame birds are wonderful, some of my best have been on birds that are tame/approachable. There is a line from when the birds feel comfortable with human presence and when they feel threatened. Cross that line and the owls either go into their burrow or if able fly away. I like the image, typical of the young owls at the burrow, low POV capturing a nice background. Thank you for sharing,

In answer to Arash's question regarding the eyes, most have yellow eyes, a few have black eyes, and others shades like this sort of in between. From what I have read the biologists in Florida think that the black and dark colored eyes are from a limited gene pool and the owls mostly being clustered in a couple areas.

[dankearl]

Well done, I would be happy with this, a Studio shot...

[Kurt Bowman]

Very nice frame. Love the eyes in this, the foliage is great and techs spot on. Nice work!