I like these close portraits, Dave. Eye contact and BG are great. The side lighting is challenging as it is accentuating the blue cast in the shaded areas. It is also causing asymmetry in the eyes (brightness, colour and pupil size) which is detracting from the image IMO. Plane of focus seems to be at the base of the beak and eyes look a bit soft to me. Some selective sharpening may help. I find a very subtle vignette/corner burn often work well in these images to draw the eye in to the subject.
I like the look on the owl's face and don't mind the different pupil size, it adds interest in my opinion. And yes to more sharpening after resizing and before uploading. I could see this as a vertical crop, too. Please post the complete techs.
Hey Dave,
As mentioned above.......a bit of selective sharpening on the eyes.....that it! Really nice BG and look. Different size of pupils doesn't bother me either. Tony's burn on the corners is interesting....I may try it out myself.