Barred on snow

[Malcolm Benn]

Decided to go looking for Barred Owls yesterday .. it was -17C or +1F before the wind chill .. welcome to January.

Canon 50D
300mm f2.8
Aperture Priority @1/1000, f3.2, ISO 400, Exposure comp +4/3

[Gary Esman]

I am glad you did, really like this. Nice and sharp and can see a great reflection in the eyes...fantastic.

[Danny J Brown]

Beautiful shot, Malcolm and I agree that they eyes on this barred owl look better than I've seen in recent memory. Your low angle makes this ground shot look very nice, especially with the wintery setting. I looked out my window this morning and saw a barred owl sitting on a perch that I often photograph. I so wished I was down there. Thanks.

[Jamie Douglas]

This is my first go at giving constructive critique so here goes.

Great comp and sharpness, I think I can even see your reflection in the Owl's right eye.
I used the spot healing tool to remove the specs in the BG and used a slightly tighter crop (not sure about this). I felt the birds head and BG was a little dark so used PS Shadow/Highligh and set the Shadow at 35%. Shame about the blown highlights but I am not sure how to correct this without having th RAW file and using the highlight tool in Canon DPP.

Take with a pinch of salt. I like grass line from using a shallow DOF.

[Steve Canuel]

Excellent image. Even without reading about the conditions, this photo gives me an impression of cold stillness.

[Ilija Dukovski]

Very unusual image of this species. The eyes on these birds always
make the image. What I really like here is the bill color standing out in the
overall gray tone. I only wish the BG border between dark and light part was
not intersecting the head. Also, I agree with Jamie in most of his comments.

[Jim Crosswell]

Great low angle shot. I like the reflection in the eyes and the snowy environment. Well done!

[Morkel Erasmus]

just love the eyes and the low angle here. exposure on the owl is spot on.

[Stu Bowie]

Super low angle, with a good pose and HA. Overall exposure looks good, and I would try and blend in the lighter area of the BG to the darker area. The line is quite well defined as is.

[Mark Theriot]

Really nice shot! The 2.8 really does the job here on the DOF!

Mark

[Raymond Barlow]

nice one Malcolm, great low angle.., I have never seen these birds on the grass, wonder why he was there?

[Hendri Venter]

I like the low capture angle and the eyes are also special. Good DOF too. Lovely image Malcolm.

[Cindy Mead]

this works very well for me as is Malcom. A great low angle and I love the light in the barreds' eyes. Your techs and comp both look spot on to me, very well done!

[Malcolm Benn]

Thanks everyone for the compliments and comments they are all appreciated. Ray that particular owl was hunting along the ring road in the Park, going from one side to the other, perch to perch. It came down on our side and landed about 20 feet away so we lay down on the road and crawled towards it shooting all the way before it took off and flew over us back onto a perch on the other side of the road :)