Photos this early

Hi Rufus, Welcome to NPN! A nice first post... Still, this is 90 percent of a Burrowing Owl. I would prefer to see the whole bird. Sharpness could be a little better for the body of the bird too, although not bad and sharp where it matters most. If you could post your techs it makes it easier for all of us to help you along. Looking forward to more. You're in a good area for birds, so we have high expectations.

Another welcome to NPN Avian, Rufus. A great first bird. Charlie covered most of the nits on your post; I'd add that the red background is a little distracting. I assume it's flowers, but anything that takes you away from the subject of the photo needs to be carefully considered and, usually, left out. Paying attention to the background is one of the tougher things to remember as you are getting started.

I'm looking forward to more of your posts, and to your comments on others' photos.

Hi Rufus and Welcome! I really like the tilted head and nice details you captured in the head in this. It looks to me like a little more depth of field would have helped get all of the bird in focus, but I don't know your settings. A step or two to the right or left may have helped to eliminate that red background. The glassy eyes are really special in this with your reflection, too! Looking forward to more images from you! Sharon

Rufus,
Welcome to the site. Agree with other comments. Keep posting. The comments I receive invariably show me something I overlooked.

Welcome to NPN, Rufus. This is a very nice first post. You got one of those classic comical head turns from this owl and the detail looks pretty good at the size posted. You can post an optional larger image, which helps with critical evaluation. It also helps if you post the camera parameters and the conditions under which you took the shot (see others posts for ideas). My one criticisms of the image itself is that it is awfully tight. If you wanted a portrait, usually head and shoulders are enough and then it looks as if it's intended. With this composed the way it is, it looks more as if the feet and tail got chopped off accidentally. While it is always tempting to get the subject as large as possible in the frame, it's usually nice to give them "room to move".

Welcome aboard, and I look forward to seeing more of your work.

Hello Rufus, welcome ! The look of the owl is priceless, very cute. As the others mentioned, some techs good be improved on , but I am sure we will see more images soon Look forward !Hans