Working at home on pre-Winter chores the day after the ice storm got an email from a guys i-phone about this Snowy. Dropped the tools and grabed the camera.
iso 800, AV, f5.6 at 1/500 EV +2/3 - 1DMK3 on 500mm f4 IS - hand held - just as the sun went down. Bob
The image is nice with nice golden light. Did you apply a gaussian blur to the background ? The difference between the background and bird is IMHO distracting.
:)
I like this one a lot. If this is a crop you should take into consideration to look for a different cropping. I would love to see a landscape crop with a good amount of room at the left and a little bit more at the right. Agree with Axel about the highlights.
Like the eye contact. Have to agree that the area of the BG in the same focal plane as the bird should be in focus; it just doesn't look right to the eye. And I would like to see a bit more room for the bird in the frame.
Grady, Biddeford Pool - will do! - Bob
Doug, The focus on this was distorted by me but other frames are soft also. There may not have been grass on plane with the owl - it was up on a bit of a rise. I will post another. Thanks to all! Bob