Burrowing Owl

An unusual composition. The light brings out the form of the owl and makes this very three dimensional.

I like it also. Thanks for sharing. Excellent sharpness

Nice feather detail and the dreamy look in it's eye is great...A thumbs up from me!

Gorgeous light, Mia. I really like what it does to the owl and the bg.

Hi Mia,
Very nice details. The directional light is wonderful but that type of lighting is my favorite. I'm not loving the background with all circles. It's not an image killer but not the most favorable BG. I'm still thinking about the composition. I'll just see what others have to say about it.
Thanks for posting,
Ronnie G.

I like this one a lot, Mia. The angled light sets off the texture in the feathers and the intensity of the razor sharp eye. I think the comp works fine with the direction of the owl's stare.

My thanks for the comments thus far on this image.

Ronnie, I went back to the folder that had this file in it and looked at some of the full body shots to ID the vegetation in the background, the circles are light striking the the small seedheads of pigweed plants.

One of the things I like about the image is that the spots of the owl's plumage are echoed in the background. I guess that is merely a matter of personal tastes but I do highly value your input on this. Thanks.

Mia, I like this one a lot. The lighting and the comp. are very nice.

Mia, the light on this is very nice! I really like the intensity of the eyes and glad you left the spider web.

This is a wonderful, well conceived perspective. I'm not sure I have seen it often in avian images.
Lovely lighting great detail, well done Mia.

I've tried hard, but this doesn't quite work for me - I guess only 1 out of 435 posting of yours is a pretty good record. I do agree the light is beautiful.

KC, thank you for your honesty and candor about this post, I appreciate it and value your input.

Very nice capture! I like the big space on the left, makes it look like he looking down on his prey. I love the whole shot, lighting and the fact no baiting was done! Not a big fan of baiting wildlife for a photo. I never have....never will! Got to hunt for it one your own!

Oh my... the profile shot of the owl looks fantastic. Your depth of field though is what makes this image work for me. I mean the lighting of course is very important and it obviously helps to make the whole image come together here. I just get sucked into that one eye... makes me wonder what the owl is thinking. The composition is pretty original imo. Great capture Mia.

Mia, I will freely admit that the first time I looked at this last night I knew I'd have to think about this one. I was in a hurry and didn't take the time to open the larger image. Doing so today made all the difference because of the eye at that scale looking toward the OOF background to the left. I really like the mood that creates. Breaking "conventions" is risky and this is certainly an unconventional composition but I think it works very well.

I love the detail in the eye - as much time as I've spent up close to these birds I had no idea that their eyelids (both upper and lower) can pull that far away from their eyes which I find fascinating.

I like this a lot Mia. It's unconventional but it works well imo. The pose of the bird gives me the feeling he's looking over his environment, very cool.

Hi Mia,
Like others, I had to come back to this several times to formulate a response. I don't usually read the post before posting, but I have to agree with you that the mottled oof bg mirroring the owls markings is what makes this unusual composition work for me. I like the way the empty upper left corner helps my eye flow down and around the pig weed and back to that eye. I don't think the comp would have been as effective had that corner been filled in with the weeds.
Interesting piece of imagery.
Thanks for sharing.
Neil

I agree, the light across the front of the owl works nicely Mia..
Unusual comp that works well with OOF patterns of the BG, and bit of open space upper left.
Well done!