Juvy Great Horned Owl

[dankearl]

I am guessing by the look and the way it behaved (no fear) that it was born early spring.
Taken early this morning and his eyes were only open on 5 of 50+ shots.
BG not super, but I don't get them much better, they are always amongst a bunch of foliage.
1/400
f6.3
iso450
600mm (300f2.8 w/ 2X)

DSC_1998nx2.jpg

[Mital Patel]

Dar,

This is a spectacular habitat shot.
You have managed really well to capture the perch and bird both a nice sharp.

i might clone open white spots through foliage. just above bird.

The best bet i like in this shot you took is that your decision of choosing aperture to make diff between subject and bg.

little S Curve and bird will pop out better IMO.

[gail bisson]

Dan,
Lucky lucky you to find this handsome fellow and good photographic skills to capture him so nicely. I like how his head is tucked in and his eyelids are slighlty lowered. The mossy perch is "to die for" and a bonus that it is on the diagonal. BG is busy but doesn't detract. You might try to desaturate the BG a bit to minimize it's impact but I wouldn't do much more that that,
Well done,
Gail

[Grace Scalzo]

Dan, What a nice image. I love the detail that you have in his back. The one suggestion that I have has to do with composition. Since his gaze is down and to the left, I'd consider moving him up in the frame and to the right. I think you could even crop from the top and loose some of the bright spots that way. Thanks for sharing this image, I really enjoyed it.

[arash_hazeghi]

nice display of enviroment, good details too. I wish there was more eye contact with the owl to make a connection with the viewer.

[dankearl]

Grace, I agree but it is cropped from Horizontal and the bird was in the lower part of the frame.
Here is another that I could raise higher, but a bit different head turn, and the BG was even busier.
Good thing he was sleepy and not afraid as I could try a lot of different shots and even changed TC'S on the lens.
Alas, I could not change the habitat.

And Gail, it is Oregon, all the perches are mossy!
And Arash, just saw your reply, this one was staring at me.

DSC_1994nx.jpg

[Grace Scalzo]

I love this one. Mossy perch, great detail, owl eyes. It rocks!