Barn Owl portrait

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

As you probably know, I do love raptors, but especially OWLS! Captured this during one of my recent solo nighttime adventures in Western Sydney. Almost full frame, HH, 30D, 300/1.4x, ISO400, f/8, 1/125th, 430EX at 0, beamer, very, very close. :)

[Randy Stout]

Akos:

You are really working these fellows, and doing very well.

Sharp, fine detail,nice colors.

My only desires here would be to have a bit more of the bird on the right( just a sliver really) and a better eye contact, and maybe a catchlight? I know, not much huh.

Did you squeak him after this shot to get him to look towards you?
Keep them coming, great to see so many fine shots of a personal favorite.
Cheers

Randy

[Alfred Forns]

.. can add the light coverage is fairly even, normally the BB points slightly down giving a dark area around the top !! Excellent !!!

[Ramon M. Casares]

Very nice! Love these Owls! I wish for more room and a catchlight, but that is just about it :) Congratulaitons!!!

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I like the composition and profile. Have you tried to lighten the eye a bit?

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Thanks for looking guys.

Randy, of course I squeaked, shuffled my feet to get it to turn its head. I have many different angles, I kind of liked this too as it's different. Sadly, I made this pretty tight, but will make you sick with my Barnies now! :D

Al, I know what you mean, this was in portrait orientation hence why there is no dark line visible. I was afraid to remove the fresnel in case the ripping sound spooked the owls. I kept it on for trying for flight shots. :)

Ramon, thanks amigo, appreciate your feedback. :)

Thanks Axel, I should try your tip. Thanks for looking bud. :)

[Gyorgy Szimuly]

Luckily adding some canvas to this image is not an issue. Lovely portrait and different. Just the bill is too close to the frame. :) Well done.

Szimi

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Great job my friend!
Lovely portrait and details. I especially like fine feathers on the face.

[arash_hazeghi]

Excellent exposure with lots of detail, night BG shows the owl's behavior and adds to the image. Perfect

[Daniel Belasco]

Nice shot.
Glad to ee it was taken in the wild.
Wish I could see the eye, but I see--no pun--that you were trying for something different. And for this you were successful.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Hi guys
Thanks for looking and your offer of suggestions to improve this image. :)