Thanks, Barry. Bear in mind that the only other one I really edited was the third from last. The original for my entry was actually pretty drab and heavily cropped:
Surprisingly, the flash didn't seem to bother them at all. That one pounced on a cricket to the left of the flash right after that shot. Lots of fun stories over the many days I went out to shoot these guys (and they're still around). One of the best was when I was throwing a ball with the dog and the owl would silently fly right behind the [oblivious] dog a few feet away in each direction. LOL
I found this critter to be intriguing
and a good age for proportion of colorful knobby protrusions relative to the general body. I definitely found many things that I would have done differently given time and perhaps some different equipment. I liked the curve of the leaf along with the curve of the caterpillar in the photo I chose to process, a whole other challenge.
You picked the right entry, Richard - I much prefer that shot. For one thing, the composition is stronger. For another, it's B&W, which I tend to prefer. I will say it looks like you ended up with some great shots from that shoot! I suspect they client will be very pleased.
