After the snow

[Art Kornienko]

50D, 300 F4L IS, ISO 200, F5.6, 1/640, +2/3 EC
Mainly cloudy, no bait used, Snowy was simply parked by the side of the road. Cropped about a 1/8th of the photo on the right side.

[Dominic Cantin]

Nice and clear image ! Nearly a monochrome image except for the eyes ;)

Dom :)

[Paul Lagasi]

Hi Art...good image, sharp, eye contact and the background...congrats Paul

[david cramer]

Great eye contact and nice work on the exposure.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Great angle, details and the BG works for me, too. I find it amazing that a 300 is long enough for this bird. Did you photograph the bird from the car?

[Art Kornienko]

Hi Axel, no not from the car, the Snowy was on a small snow bank by the side of the road, I parked a short distance from it and simply walked very slowly toward it, crouching down, and got as close as I could, had my monopod. If I was any closer, I'd have lost room at the top and bottom, I also tried a few portrait shots, but really was too close, there wasn't enough room on the sides of the shot. This one looked to be the best with a bit off the right side. I find the 300 a very good FL for Owl applications (at least for me). I try not to use my 1.4 unless I really have to. For in-flight shots, I have tried my 70-200 2.8 LIS, but am unhappy with the IQ compared to the 300 F4LIS. I have heard many comment that the 300 F4LIS is not the best, but tend to disagree with those comments, I find it very sharp especially one stop down.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Art, I agree, the 300f4IS is a great lens, I just don't think it would be long enough to photograph snowy owls around here.