Visited my local bird park to try & get a good shot for this challenge; ended up with too many to choose from, but I liked this Great Grey Owl, 'Mr Bojangles' the best of all.
I was actually sat on my husband's shoulders to get this shot through the upper part of the cage bars, where I managed to shove the lens through the feeding flap. Hence there was some wobble factor !
Levels, contrast, upped sat on yellows a teensy bit, cloned out shadows of the cage bars cast on top of his head, USM.
Update: very pleased with my top 20 on this; thanks for all the comments. Regarding the crop, yes I know its a bit tight round his head but I wanted the shot at full zoom to get as close-up on his face as possible. And along with the above mentioned wobble factor, this was the best I could do !
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Simply amazing. Hat eto get all anthropomorphic, but I swear I see human emotion in this owl. He actually looks like someone I know and is making a similar face. Great capture and love the crop.
The brightness difference between the bird's face and the top of it's head and shoulders is distracting; you could have probably fixed this by adjusting the curves. The face itself seems sharp, but underexposed. A catchlight in the owl's eyes would have really helped to bring this image alive.
What a HOOT. Seriously -" love it", great expression plenty of shapes and detail to lead you around this composition, always leading you back to the eyes.
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