The first time I saw a photograph of a Great Gray Owl I was fascinated by their face. Their eyes reminded me of the eyes on my Persian cats. When I learned of an upcoming photo opportunity to photograph these owls at a raptor conservatory in southern Ontario, Canada, I jumped at the chance, even though the weather was expected to be cold in January. It was cold, indeed:10 degrees Fahrenheit all day long. After getting many images of this owl in flight, he came to rest on a perch. This was when I knew I'd get the shot I has hoped for: a nice closeup portrait of his face.

I shot this image with a Nikon D700 and a Sigma 150-500 mm lens at 500 mm focal length. The aperture was f/6.3, the shutter speed was 1/1000 second, and the ISO was 400.