This is my Christmas Pygmy-Owl, captured while participating in a Christmas Bird Count in Northern CA, Alpine co.
He has a bit of his lunch still above the bill. The snow was really supplying alot of light as he was in the shade. I cropped a little for comp, cloned out one small OOF branch in the BG, ran Noise Ninja on the BG and selectively sharpened the bird and the perch. C&C welcome. Ps. I had to resharpen after previewing here, as the jpeg upload was not sharp? Happy Holidays to all!
Camera Model: NIKON D300, handheld
Shutter speed: 1/500 sec
Aperture: 5.6
Exposure mode: Manual
Flash: Off
Metering mode: Spot
ISO: 400
Lens: VR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D
Focal length: 400mm
Focal length: 600mm (in 35mm film)
VR Image Stabilization: On
AF mode: AF-S