For the bird photographer purists and those who sell images commercially, this shot breaks a few rules, especially the sight of those corn stalks in the right lower foreground.
But with that blowing snow in the background, it’s all worth it.

For artists, there are no rules – as I’ve said before, there is the emotion that an image evokes for the photographer, which of course may not be shared by all. In a quest to sanitize an image, some people may forget that in nature there are actually trees, horizons, fence posts and vegetation – yes, really! :-)

Canon 40D with 400 f5.6L lens, @ 1/1250, f8, ISO 200, -1/3 exposure compensation, cropped slightly for composition purposes, post behind the owl slightly blurred to break the lines.

Cheers,

Mike