Winner Chosen - March 2014 - Admin's choice - Image of the month

[Marko]

Hi members,

In case you are new around here this is where the Admin (me) chooses one excellent photo each month from all the photos nominated by other members during that month in the Member's monthly choice forum.

Just so it's clear, the photo I choose is not necessarily the best one of the month. I've come to realize it's not really logical to pit images from totally different genres against each other. That's why there are categories in photo contests.

My goal is to simply choose an excellent photo and talk about why I think it rocks.

This month, congrats to Hillbillygirl for capturing this image from the set called Silent Death (Snowy Owl)

I chose this image for several reasons:

1 - Timing - Sharpness - Level of difficulty - This shot would have been simple to miss and shots like this don't come around too often. Kudos to the photographer for nailing this difficult image. The owl is moving in fast and is just about to swoop up a rodent. The eyes of the fast moving owl are very sharp as Hillbillygirl is fully locked on them in the same way as the owl's eyes are locked on its prey.

2 - Composition - The composition here is really well done, especially given the difficulty of the image. The entire bird and its shadow are captured, the wingspan is fully there, the rodent in the foeground was not missed or cropped out. The owl's eyes line up near one of the thirds....This story is crystal clear and the composition helps make it so.

3 - Exposure and Post processing - All that white makes for a tricky exposure especially because the owl is moving. Whites are beautifully rendered here. The snow's cast is natural and lets you feel the cold.

For all these reasons, this is my choice for image of the month. Since we all have opinions, some members may disagree with my choice. That's cool but THIS thread is not the place for debate over my pick, NOR is it the place to further critique the image. The purpose here is to suggest strong elements in the photo that we may learn from.

Congrats again to Hillbillygirl for capturing this excellent image from an awesome set.