Great Gray Owl (c)

[David Fletcher]

Regrettably, in the UK they are not wild and if we want to film one, it's a trip to Northern American or Scandinavia. This still meant a hike uphill and traveling 300 miles when we had a snow forecast. This was chosen as a sudden gust of wind blew it's gussets.... D3 & 300 2.8 VR. 1/4000 F4.5 ISO 400. -0.33 FF

[Harshad Barve]

Davidbhai

What a beautiful shot this is , eye contact , ruffled feathers , sharpness , beautifully exposed white snow and BG , I am loving every pixel of this image
TFS

[Randy Stout]

David:

Congrats on 1000! Nicely exposed, sharp, good timing, well composed.

I like the environment behind him, but would burn in the snow on the left just a bit so it doesn't draw the eye.

Your effort was well rewarded.

Cheers

Randy

[Harshad Barve]

Davidbhai
Big congrats on 1000th post and what an image to celebrate

[Manos Papadomanolakis]

Congrats on 1000!!!
beautiful pose,eye contact and ruffled feathers!!!

[Joe Senzatimore]

Other than the bright snow on the left , this is one fine image. Well worth your efforts. Love those eyes.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Well worth the drive. Nice fluffed-up pose, and I like the snowy environment and perch. The only thing I'm not fond of is the large black object in LLC, and I may tone down the lighter areas in the BG.

[David Fletcher]

Thank you everyone for your thoughts and kind suggestions. Appreciated. (thought I'd better get off my butt for the 1000th, :D. One small milestone, but one, nevertheless). Cheers.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Congratulations on the milestone! Cool pose, good-looking subject and I like the snowy perch. I agree regarding toning down the snow on the left and maybe removing the black rock but I like it as is.

[denise ippolito]

David, Big Congrats on the milestone! I love the awesome fluffed up pose you captured and the snow adds alot to the scene. I think the BG is interesting and I like the colors. I love it!

[Morkel Erasmus]

still a lovely image Dave! love that ruffled look and the environment...

[Arthur Morris]

Quite striking a noted above. Way sharp. I could live without the black rock LLC; you could lose it with a crop a fraction above the top of it.

So where was this photographed???

[Ilija Dukovski]

Wow, great Great... Excellent example that rules are meant to be broken.
Busy BG and yet the image is great.
I'd repeat Artie's question, where's the place?

[David Fletcher]

Artie and Ilija, sorry for late reply.. (sleep and all that... :)). Taken in some hills in central Wales, not too far from Rhayader where the Red Kites can be found: (Sussex where I live is full of Deciduous Woodland, not normal GG Owl territory, so to provide some sort of realism, a hike was needed). Thanks for your time and thoughts.

[Lance Peters]

Hi David - Love that ruffled look - some good advice for tweaks above....
Lovely image - Well done!!!

[Arthur Morris]

Artie and Ilija, sorry for late reply.. (sleep and all that... :)). Taken is some hills in central Wales, not too far from Rhayader where the Red Kites can be found: (Sussex where I live is full of Deciduous Woodland, not normal GG Owl territory, so to provide some sort of realism, a hike was needed). Thanks for your time and thoughts.

Thanks David. Now I am confused; Either Wales is not part of the UK or this is a photograph of a captive bird... Which is it? (Sorry if I missed something.....)

[Chris Kotze]

Excellent image and super detail and colours.

[David Fletcher]

Thanks David. Now I am confused; Either Wales is not part of the UK or this is a photograph of a captive bird... Which is it? (Sorry if I missed something.....)

Hi Artie. Sure, Wales is a part of the UK... just 300 + miles from where I live. And of course it is a photo of a captive though. (there's a (c) by the title). The dialogue is meant that to try and give some authenticity to the type of environment it should be in, meant I had to travel so at least the backdrop, even oof, would be in keeping with natural habitat. Am I making sense.? Man, I would love to pop over to Finland, (nearest stop for GGO's for us), but with a weather forecast of snow coming in, and a 5 hour drive, i'll take it. (plenty of falconers where I live, but no contest... Also the trip with skirting the weather fronts, and trekking up hills and even seeing a captive hunt in snow as if born to it beats sitting in the office any day). :):). No worries if you missed something, and sincerely hope I haven't added to that, intentionally or not. Dave

[Danny Laredo]

David, I like this frame a lot. The whole setting looks and feels very natural. And the pose and intense stare are wonderful.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks David. I did miss that little (c).

Well done and well worth the effort.