Great Gray Owl in the Snow

A wonderful shot Steve. I wish for a less busy BG but I'm sure that's tough to get.

Nice shot Steve. I enjoyed heading northeast of Duluth and finding birds on my own versus just going to the bog where everyone was. Beautiful country too.

Nice one. I prefer this kind of background to a white sky. It tells more of a story, and unlike a bright background, it doesn't "flare out" detail and contrast in the owl. You could always blur the background a bit if you find it too obtrusive, but this one doesn't have any strong distracting lines so I'd leave it alone.

aj

Another nice habitat shot! Even though I used to live in Minnesota myself this is the first time I've
envied anyone living there during the winter. I hope to make it back up here before the owls are gone.

Sweet shot!!

I love the complimentary background on this although having be less busy would be a plus. Great Portrait.

Very nice shot, Steve!
As good as it goes ... :roll:

Classic pose, I agree!

He looks really puffed out to me!

It's a very nice shot--I especially like the touch of falling snow--but I do wish that the background was a bit more OOF. (It looks like you were wide open already, though.)

-Paul

Very nice habitat shot!

I would add that we got many very good shots of this owl from various angles on the same perch. Some of which have the background OOF and far less busy. I will post some of these later. As Chris did with his GGO image, I chose this image precisely because of the background. Sitting up against a tangle of aspens is the quintessential perch for these owls. They are not mottled gray for nothing. While they can often be found out in the open when hunting, this is where they roost when at rest. So while I appreciate smooth pastel backgrounds on many images, I don't always find them desirable. If fact there are many images when I have thought, too bad about the plain or studio like background. This subject comes up regularly on this forum and it is certainly worthy continued debate. I in no way mind the comments about the background in this image, in fact I quite expected them and was pleased to get a variety view points. I would just say there are various aesthetics of what constitutes a nature photograph and no one formula is the ultimate.

Beautiful shot Steve!

Fine shot, Steve.

Super Shot

I'm one who likes the BG inclusion....as mentioned it is natural. Great DOF across the Owl from head to tail as well.

Much more relaxed look to this bird than a lot of the others. I like it. The snow is nice too.