Snowy Owl

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padrepaul

padrepaul

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After a pretty quiet snowy owl season one showed up for the past few weeks which was nice.

Had some nice light on him and was looking at cropping as he was in a tree with some branches everywhere, but the sun was behind me which was nice and the sky was a nice pink.

zz snowy sunset 1.jpg
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Great shot. This is just a suggestion, take it or leave it. Have you thought of reducing the s.s. and taking advantage of the VR or IS on a still subject in light like that to keep the ISO down? (not that it's bad, you handled it very well.) Sometimes, when I think to do it, I'll go to 1/320th sec. using my 600 mm and get some good shots with more light. Of course, you'll have a better chance of getting a good shot using bursts to ensure one good shot. Love the warm, but soft light in this photo. Would be proud to call it my own.
 
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A very nice image with a serene atmosphere. Since it looks slightly muted on my monitor I might be tempted to increase exposure just a tad. But the bones of the image are perfect and you could fine-tune it any way you like.
 
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Beautiful bird - wow - wish we had them here.

Paul - the image is under-exposed and this - besides not bringing the best out in the bird, also makes the eyes very dull.
One shouldn't expect the image (in that light) to look like a daylight photo - but exposure still needs to match the light and subject.

There is unfortunately almost no feather detail - the images (on my side) appears very smooth. I suspect that the software of the forum contributes to this, but there is definitely a problem with detail.

Lots of branches - a matter of preference I think. Nothing wrong with leaving them in. Cleaning some up will also tidy the image up.
 
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Great shot. Never have seen one of these guys. We have other owls, but snowy's are a couple of hours away on the coast (Western WA) when they are there at all.
There was one in Seattle a couple of years ago, and he had quite a following.
I like the light and the lighting (exposure). Fine feather detail is likely a casualty of the file size limits on the site. I'd be glad to have made your shot. Maybe next time...
 
I think it is well exposed and rendered well. I like the colors, and those eyes, wow! The only thing I'd add since you put in for critique is the crop. The area right around the owl is nice the way the branches flow out and up. The rest of the branches I'd crop away as they don't add to the story. So I'd say go vertical and give the owl some breathing room, but crop tighter on the owl than you did.
 
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