A majestic snowy owl perches high enough on Queen Anne Hill to look down on its admirers

Photographer: Michael McAuliffe

Photo taken: Dec. 23, 2020, in Seattle

Photographer’s description: “I went looking for a visitor from the north that has been spending time on Queen Anne Hill for the last month and was fortunate to locate and photograph the beautiful snowy owl. Nikon D500 camera and 500 mm pf lens.”

Critique: “As is an oft-recurring theme on this page, there’s an undeniably cool juxtaposition of civilization and nature here. Everything about this photo serves it well. The shingles and their shadows tell us exactly where we are. The clumps of bright green moss provide a colorful, but not-too-distracting, frame around our regal subject, which allows its startling yellow eyes to almost jump off the page (or out of the screen). That little white tuft up in the right corner bums me out a little, aesthetically speaking, but that’s hardly your fault. This image is super cool, and we’re glad you shared!”

Below is a gallery of previous Reader’s Lens picks. Share your recent photo from around the Northwest. Submit online at seattletimes.com/submit-photos. Our favorite will appear in this spot next week. We judge the year’s best and award prizes in December.