Great Gray Owl.

[Karl Egressy]

Finally I had a chance to go and see the Great Gray Owl.
I arrived very early but spent twenty minutes or more, looking for it along the wrong road.
Fortunately Jerry Peltier came along, recognized me (we met before) and helped me to find the Owl.
This is one of the first shots I took in a nice early morning light.
Thanks for looking.
(Isn't it funny how much the colour is a function of the light? The Great Gray Owl has been transformed to Great Brown Owl in the sweet morning light. )

Canon EOS-1D Mark IV
Manual Exposure
Tv 1/640
Av4.5
ISO 400
EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM
Hand held.

[Sachin Saraf]

Great light and pose...perch is nice as well...I somehow found the BG in the upper half little distracting...or may be my eyes are tired (we will know once others chime in )

[gail bisson]

You guys are killing me with all these owl shots!!
I like the light and the composition and I love the perch! I am ok with the BG. I really like this image Karl. well done,
gail

[Jonathan Ashton]

What a great image, I wouldn't change a thing. I am completely amazed that that perch can support the owl, I suppose it demonstrates the extremely light skeletal structure of owls.

[Jim Fenton]

Sweet image with my only minor nit being the BG but I would have captured the image and posted it as well :)


Love the light, the subject, the perch and that face.

One of these days I'll be blessed with seeing one of these creatures.

[Karl Egressy]

Sweet image with my only minor nit being the BG but I would have captured the image and posted it as well :)


Love the light, the subject, the perch and that face.

One of these days I'll be blessed with seeing one of these creatures.

t
Thanks Jim. The OOF spots in the background are trees.
They looked natural to me and I moved to a location to include something more than the sky for the top portion.
I could have cloned it out of course but it would have defeted my purpose of wanting to include it.
Anyway, thanks for your thoughts but I like the way it is. I already printed it out and it looks very nice.

[dankearl]

Very nice Karl.
I would just tone down the exposure a tad.
Owl's always look better to me a bit on the dark side.
A 300mm?
I am envious.

[Marina Scarr]

Wow! I am green with envy.

[Josh Clark]

Karl this is a beauty, that morning light really adds to the image. Love the HA as well. Great image for your first time seeing this famous fellow.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Karl, good choice of comp, like the eye contact, and another wondering how the perch is supporting the owl. Im fine with the BG as is.

[Robert Holguin]

Wow!!! Spectacular image!! Love the pose, excellent light, and wonderful perch.
Well done.

[Randy Stout]

Karl:

FIne shot with great subject, fun perch, nice sense of form from the side lighting.

I might consider toning down the dark spot on extreme right frame edge where the field merges with the trees.

Well done.

Cheers

Randy

[Dumay de Boulle]

Awesome light and great detail..>What a crazy looking owl!

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Super cool. Love the neat seedy looking perch. My only dislike is the vertical oof lines on the lower left side.

[Carmelo Cannova]

Great light and pose Karl. How can he stand on that perch? Love that perch too.

Carmelo