Barred Owl

This is taken from a kayak, handheld in the Okefenokee swamp. It is my first

Owl picture. I would like feed back as I am finally starting to have time to

spend on my photography.

Congratulations on this your first photo! Very nice also the background and the environment. The owl is not too much in the middle?

beautiful owl composition!

Wow, that's a handsome Owl and I'm certainly impressed with the shot from a kayak.

For feedback: I'm a visual person, so I've attached an edit to show another possible presentation. I don't offer it as better, only different. In this edit I, of course, cropped to vertical, and also adjusted the white balance, light levels, and added just a slight vignette. See how you like it... Mike

Very nice first owl photo, Jim.  I do like how MLM cropped it.

I also prefer MLM's version - eliminating extraneous, somewhat distracting elements.

Isolate, simplify & define.

Regards

Sorry to not have gotten out here. I did not realize I had my notifications turned off. I do like the vertical. In fact that it is how I have it displayed at home.  I am still working on my processes in Lightroom.  I think the edit made the owl pop out more and do a better job of separating it from the background.  I appreciate the comments.