Male Northern Hawk Owl

Gallery: AvianPosted March 30, 2011217 views23 comments

This is the Male Northern Hawk Owl (the mate of the female from my last post here: http://www.naturephotographers.net/imagecritique/ic.cgi?a=vp&pr=169699&CGISESSID=1bddc5bdb9922cb6db6b00890c883665&u=3446 ) from the Sax-Zim Bog in Minnesota. After photographing the female for a while my dad and I decided to hike in to look for the male. My dad was the first one to spot him. He was very cooperative in letting us photograph him, as he didn't seem very skittish of people. He looked at us, called to his mate, repositioned himself, and then looked at us some more!

I loved listening to his calls, they sounded so cool!

I love how he's looking right at me, and I also really like his pose!

Nikon D300
Nikkor 300mm f/4 AF-S with 1.4TC
ISO 280
1/320sec @ f/5.6

Comments

23 comments

Comment posted by Randy Bacon on March 30, 2011 at 3:10 PM

Wonderful shot Jenaya, I love those intense eyes fixed right on the viewer. Excellent detail and I like the juxtaposition to the tree bark. If it weren't for those yellow eyes and beak, he'd look just like another part of the tree.

Registered on November 24, 2008, 56 Posts, 492 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on March 30, 2011 at 3:17 PM

Jenaya, this is a wonderful image! Great pose nice oerch and that intent stare is perfect.
Very well done!
Sandy

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Rick Cloran on March 30, 2011 at 4:30 PM

A very nice portrait. The large view shows the detail well.

Registered on April 6, 2004, 119 Posts, 1989 Comments

Comment posted by Alan Murphy on March 30, 2011 at 4:32 PM

Nice comp on this image.

Registered on December 3, 2003, 192 Posts, 739 Comments

Comment posted by Dan Harbour on March 30, 2011 at 5:25 PM

Great subject, the hawk owl is magnificent. Wonderful detail and exposure. Love the pose and your choice of composition. Excellent image.

Registered on January 4, 2008, 113 Posts, 2416 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on March 30, 2011 at 5:55 PM

W!!! Awesome photo Jenaya! Excellent detail in both the bird and tree, sweet comp and exposure work.

Ken Archer

Registered on October 28, 2004, 222 Posts, 6683 Comments

Comment posted by Sharon Hallowell on March 30, 2011 at 6:46 PM

Excellent image...well done in every way! Congrats on this beauty! Sharon

Registered on November 1, 2003, 392 Posts, 4810 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Huff on March 30, 2011 at 6:46 PM

Jenaya, a really nice image. Great exposure and detail. Also like how he is looking at you with those eyes.

Ron Huff

Registered on August 31, 2010, 69 Posts, 440 Comments

Comment posted by S Govindarajan on March 30, 2011 at 6:49 PM

He's giving you quite a stare, Jenaya. Nice comp - the tree bark on the right adds a nice environmental touch to the image.

Congrats on getting both of them.

Registered on April 19, 2008, 115 Posts, 1921 Comments

Comment posted by Matt Shellenberg on March 30, 2011 at 9:45 PM

I am not usually a fan of high key images, but I really like this, Jenaya. Excellent job with the composition and nice detail.

Registered on February 6, 2008, 168 Posts, 3118 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on March 30, 2011 at 10:14 PM

Excellent, Jenaya. I like the tree trunk running up the image and the direct stare of the owl. Nice detail in the plumage.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on March 30, 2011 at 10:36 PM

excellent, Jenaya. great stare, very nice comp.

Registered on March 21, 2009, 202 Posts, 4187 Comments

Comment posted by Ashley Vincent on March 31, 2011 at 1:33 AM

Another wonderful portrait to perfectly compliment the previous one, in fact, I could easily imagine people wanting to buy prints of both to hang on their walls :^)

I have to admit though, the lady in your first post stole my heart and that's where it remains ;^)

Thanks for sharing such wonderful photography with us Jenaya :^)

Registered on March 1, 2011, 154 Posts, 2083 Comments

Comment posted by Jenaya Launstein on March 31, 2011 at 12:05 PM

Thanks for the comments everyone! I'm glad you liked it! I really have a soft spot for these owls...a Northern Hawk Owl was the very first wild owl I ever got to photograph, and these pictures came from my first really long road trip with my dad for pictures.

We actually had to keep cleaning off our lenses because of the constant drizzle and rain. Once we got back and looked at the images on the computer, we could actually "watch" the sharpness and contrast of the images depreciate between cleanings! I'm glad we thought of that while we were photographing this guy!

I probably took 200 images of the two owls we found, and I got some neat ones of this male all stretched out calling, but his glare in this picture made me pick it as the one I would show you...it helped that it happened right after one of the times I wiped my lens!

Thanks for looking!

Registered on February 8, 2011, 254 Posts, 1302 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on March 31, 2011 at 12:39 PM

A wonderful image. I love the eye contact and the textures of the bark. The composition is good as well. There's a minor halo around the head of the owl that might be the result of lightening the face a little in post processing and I'd spend more time at that stage to eliminate the halo - the image is definitely worth it.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by Wayne Willison on March 31, 2011 at 2:09 PM

I like how you have it poised high in the frame. Wonderful stare and great techs here, Jenaya.

Registered on April 10, 2009, 292 Posts, 3967 Comments

Comment posted by Jenaya Launstein on March 31, 2011 at 2:23 PM

Richard: WOW! Great eye...thank you! Neither my dad nor I had noticed that, and you're right...I guess we got a little sloppy in dodging the highlights on his face. We haven't calibrated our new monitor and while it seems pretty close, that was almost impossible to see at normal viewing angles.

Thanks again for helping me improve this!

Registered on February 8, 2011, 254 Posts, 1302 Comments

Comment posted by Charles Gangas on March 31, 2011 at 5:16 PM

Beautiful subject, well captured. The stare is riveting.

Registered on August 12, 2009, 544 Posts, 2414 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Marquart on March 31, 2011 at 8:45 PM

A very nice image Jenaya, great sharpness and detail. I like that stare, and the exposure looks perfect.

Registered on October 24, 2009, 126 Posts, 799 Comments

Comment posted by Cheryl Molennor on March 31, 2011 at 8:59 PM

Love it.Not sure about the white bg but it does seem to go well with the overall comp.

Registered on June 30, 2009, 300 Posts, 5051 Comments

Comment posted by Andrei Malashenko on April 4, 2011 at 6:44 PM

This is an awesome shot in every way! Amazing how he is looking right at you as well. Just out of curiosity, did you use a tripod? Really well done , best regards, Andrei

Registered on March 18, 2011, 13 Posts, 68 Comments

Comment posted by Jenaya Launstein on April 4, 2011 at 7:13 PM

Thanks Andrei! Actually I was using a tripod for this shot...I had only brought my monopod into the field but my dad was using a tripod and we had just switched when the owl gave me this great glare.

Registered on February 8, 2011, 254 Posts, 1302 Comments

Comment posted by John Launstein on April 5, 2011 at 11:10 PM

Hi Jaye! I thought this should be my first posted comment on NPN. I guess it might not be my favourite image that you've taken to date, but I will always remember our long drive together to Minnesota and standing together beneath this guy and his mate while you admired and photographed him. Great job!

OK - onto a real critique...

First off, fire the guy who coloured outside the lines while dodging the highlights on this owl! :) (That was me, for all who might be wondering!) Sorry I missed that, but it doesn't take away from the fact that you captured a great image and made some excellent decisions in terms of composition and angle in this image. You also timed the picture perfectly...I was there, and I know he did not hold these looks at us for long. It's so easy to jerk the shutter release when you get the pose you want, and you did a great job of just squeezing off a perfect picture. You also absolutely nailed the exposure, and all that extra work in cleaning the lens as the rain and snow built up on it paid off.

Keep up your great work, and never stop enjoying God's creation (including ALL His creatures!).

Your Dad...

Registered on April 5, 2011, 223 Posts, 1193 Comments