Let's just say that there is no need to balance for your whites with this early morning shot of a Snowy Owl landing - there's not much pure white at this time of day.

Canon 7D with 500L f4 lens @ 1/1600, f4.5, ISO 400. Slight crop because I had to tilt-correct my horizontal plane. Gaussian blur applied throughout the image with the history brush applied to a strip just below the owl and the owl itself. A couple of specks of reflected snow removed.

Cheers,

Mike