Snowy Owl #1 as Rain clears

[Don Nelson]

A few remaining sprinkles as the storm system clears out.
Canon MkIV,800mm,f5.6,manual mode,tripod
A good start to the day with Doug and Arash.

[dankearl]

Very nice Don,
The eyes look super on your portrait.
I would maybe crop a bit off the bottom if you can.
I will try to make the next month meeting at the Refuge, hope to meet you then.

[arash_hazeghi]

Great shot Don, I love the look and the BG. owl is sharp and has lovely details, great exposure. it seems to my eyes that you ran NR on the perch too, I'd leave the perch sharp as it is inside the DOF with the owl.

Excellent work!

[Mital Patel]

Don this is awesome. surely you nailed it . may be a bit more sharper ?

[Doug Brown]

Love the perch, pose, and BG, although I do find the perch a little soft as presented. Great detail in the bird. The owl looks a little gray as presented; I'd considered selectively brightening it. Could you please provide us with your EXIF data for the shot Don? Any plans to visit the owls again?

[Mike Milicia]

Not much to add to the excellent critiques above but I will echo the compliments on the great perch and lovely BG!

My first thought was that the owl looked a bit gray as Doug pointed out.

[Don Nelson]

Thanks Doug and Mike M. --yes I thought the bird was a bit dark after posting as well, after looking closely after Arash's comment on restoring noise in the stump. Yes, Arash, you have great eyes for noise (or in this case, lack thereof) - I did indeed include the huge stump in noise reduction as some parts are out of focus. You are an expert on noise -- hope your guide is selling well.
I'll finish an image update later tonight. I'd appreciate additional thoughts after reposting.
QUestion for Doug -- this was under the original post: Canon MkIV,800mm,f5.6,manual mode,tripod; I'll add ISO 1000 now. (What else am I missing in EXIF? ).
thanks all!
Don

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Love the whole thing yet immediately noticed the NR on the perch. i agree with leaving it sharp.

[Sachin Saraf]

Don this is a super image...waiting for re post with suggested changes

[gail bisson]

My eyes were immediately drawn to the perch. It looks like it lost a lot of detail following NR. Would like to see more detail in the perch and all other issues have been mentionned,
Gail

[Robert Holguin]

Wonderful image. Excellent pose, great comp, love the perch, and excellent detail.Well done.

[Michael Liskay]

Don

You done did very feel in all regards and I especially like the perch!!

Mike

[Don Nelson]

Updated image
Changes -- Owl lightened by masked Selective Color layer - Black in each of these reduced: whites -6%; neutrals -16%
removed noise removal from tree ball (its an up-ended stump), and lightened the stump area slightly. Slight Detail extractor with mask painted onto stump (lightly)
Hope you like it. Thanks all for suggestions - I appreciate each one.
Regards
Don

[Christopher Ciccone]

Coming a little late to the conversation. Let me start by stating that I love the pose and framing of this image - really nailed it there! I suspect the 'greyness' of the owl is from it being wet, and frankly, it didn't bother me too much. At a time when there are a lot of Snowy Owl pics being made and posted, I felt that this one stood out for not being blazing white and a bit more "moody" - and the noise reduction on the perch made it look almost painted to my eye, and I actually found it rather appealing, if a tiny bit overdone. Sorry for the non-technical comments. :^)

[arash_hazeghi]

Repost rocks Don.

Sounds crazy I went back there on Tuesday to make up for the lost cards. Just came back home, my arms are still sore!

Cheers,
Arash