Strix uralensis

First off, what a cute species of owl! Such a lovely, small-eyed family of the Strigiformes. I love the coloration on this particular specimen, much more dark and brown then I often see! <img src="e.deviantart.net/emoticons/h/h…" width="15" height="13" alt="" title="Heart"/>

Now, Vision: I gave you high points for vision because I love the pose it is in. The angle could have been slightly more to the right to get the tail feathers in, and hope that he would turn his head a bit more to the back towards the camera, and it would be my favorite position of all bird stances. Especially for owls, I like you did not get the head completely looking at the viewer, that is slightly overdone.

Originality: The position of the camera is a bit too low for my taste, making the photo look as if it was trying to get at eye level, but just could not. That could just be me, however, and I know it is not always possible to get leveled with a bird such as an owl in the trees. I love the Autumn colors with this guy, it really enhances the entire photo!

Technique: Here is where my main complaints are. The leaves closest to the viewer, going back to cover a part of the bird, seem to have been blurred too much. It even looks like you blurred part of the feathers off on the bird in attempt to get the focus off the leaves. But then, to the lower far right, you leave a few leaves in complete focus. To me, I would have left the leaves in front be sharp, permitting they were not already blurred by the camera’s photo taking process. I also, would have made the photo oh-so-slightly brighter, and try to reduce the heavy shadow on the left side of his face. Other then that, no grain, the bird is in perfect focus, and the background is not too eye catching either, letting you look at the bird and have your eyes not be forced to drift around looking for the focal point.

Impact: Overall, a fantastic photo. There are not many pictures of this species of bird, but I can say it is one of the best on DA, truly breathtaking. Everything I mentioned was minor, and really could be without and still be a great shot. Tremendous job! ^^