Snowy Owl in Flight in Falling Snow (c)

I took this during the snow which fell just over a year ago in Southern England, at my local raptor rescue and rehabilitation centre.

Captive, not fed on live bait, not forced to do anything it didn't want to do to the best of my knowledge, not manipulated save the usual colour/tone/sharpening adjustments and a crop to make it less central...

1D MkIII, EF 500, 1/1,000th sec, f/5.6, ISO 800, handheld

That's a lovely shot !
Captive or not !
Good to see the big C though
PS
I downloaded this and dropped the gamma for a bit of impact.
Try it.
Cheers
JohnR

Thanks John - what do you mean by 'gamma' - do you mean the overall exposure setting?

John
Not sure about Photoshop but in PSPro its gamma .I took it down from1.00 - to 0.50 and it looks great.
I think it may be exposure in Photoshop. Not sure.
Its just a personal preference. Others may not agree.
Cheers
John

Works for me very well John. On my 'brighter' monitor, this looks like it could be toned down a touch, but looks great on my main screen, Great pose, comp and setting

Here's one about 0.5 stop lower... this is more like the actual conditions on the day if my memory is still accurate

That's better !
(Well I think so anyway ! ) Others may not agree.
Remember ,- a drop in gamma or exosure or whatever can make shots look sharper too.
cheers
JohnR

Hi John

It's a beautiful shot, well executed and the repost definitely works better for me. I'd be tempted to crop a bit from the top and left just to tighten it somewhat so that the owl is flying into, and not out of, space. Would also concentrate the viewers eye on the owl as well as the dark area. Lovely animated behaviour though and a beautiful intensity in the owl's eyes. Always good to have the circumstances behind the image explained and from my own personal point of view it makes it easier for me to enjoy the qualities of the image.

Cheers

Andy

A cracking shot! I'm not sure which of the images I prefer - the first makes the weather look more extreme and in the second the bird shows better.

Tim

Cracking image John

It doesn't matter to me that it is captive, you've still managed a great image

It good to see one in the snow, nice exposure, composition and setting

Well done

Ron

I agree with other comments about captive or not - still a cracking shot. I work with a local Falconer and get great pleasure from studying and photographing his birds - without that opportunity I would struggle to see many BoP close up.
Slightly prefer #2 - it emphasises the bird better at the slight cost of playing down the snowy conditions. Cliff

Hi John, I prefer the second picture.

Beautiful shot John


Its the second one for me as well

That's an excellent shot - overall I would also go for the second, but I keep going back to the emphasis on eyes on the first one .....

It's a toss-up, but I think the second image wins it for me. Excellent.

A great shot!
Regards,
Paul.

Tis a fine shot for sure and the snow adding to the atmosphere .
Johns comment on gamma is found in PS under iamge>adjustments >exposure with a setting for me of -0.13 exp ,0 offset,-0.79 gamma

Great shot John lovely comp.
Bronia

Works for me...

Des

A cracking image John. Second one for me too.

Beautiful,not much for Captive images but really like this

I prefer the second one. Great shot.

Nice, particularly with the snow.

Cheers,
Chris

super image using the snowy weather to great effect

Pauk

lovely image, wow wee,

Saves on the air fare!
Lovely shot!

Craig
www.craigchurchill.co.uk

I go for the second one as well, the bird stands out more but you can still see enough snow.

David

Hello John

Thats a real belter.

Danny