Barn Owl

Gallery: AvianPosted April 20, 2011192 views21 comments

We'd run out of light this morning and were on our way home when we spotted this owl cruising along the side of the road with an obvious destination as it was flying very fast. Getting an angle on the bird meant gunning my truck to get ahead of it, then doing some creative maneuvering to get turned around before the bird got to us. Pretty exciting! There was very little light and I wish I had more SS and perhaps should have been at ISO 800 but didn't have time to think, change settings and stay on the road all at the same time.

The bird has muddy feet, a wet belly and blood on its facial disc - all signs pointing to a successful mornings hunt.

7D, 1/1800, f/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, shot from pickup window this morning, cropped to 60% of original image, small exposure adjustment in ACR, sharpened bird, no additional processing or adjustments, natural light, not set up or baited

Larger version provided

Comments/critique appreciated

Comments

21 comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on April 20, 2011 at 5:19 PM

Dang, Ron. Barn owl out during the day. Never happens to me. Great job taking advantage of this op. Love the angle and the sharpness and detail is great where it matters. A nice hint of light in the eye too. The blood on the face is the topper for me along with the BG showing a hint of the habitat it was hunting. Very nice.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments

Comment posted by Nancy Elwood on April 20, 2011 at 6:22 PM

Really nice Ron!! I would love to have a chance with this species!! The lighting and BG are so complimentary and as Ron B said you got that just hint of the eye sparkle. Big congrats!!

Registered on January 15, 2010, 101 Posts, 396 Comments

Comment posted by Guy Runco on April 20, 2011 at 6:29 PM

Excellent barn owl shot Rob - great bg, and the bird is tack sharp, they don't get a whole lot better than this!

Registered on September 9, 2008, 77 Posts, 705 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on April 20, 2011 at 7:11 PM

Very nice - good job doing what it took to get this. Techs seem fine to me.

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

Comment posted by S Govindarajan on April 20, 2011 at 7:51 PM

Definitely worth all the effort, Ron. Both the items you mentioned - the bloody face and muddy talons - add a lot of interest. Very nice exposure on the whites and the blurry wing tips indicate a sense of motion. Not sure if you needed any higher SS for this shot. Most of the owl looks pretty sharp as it is.

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

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on April 20, 2011 at 8:00 PM

Sweet, Ron. Looks like you had enough shutter speed to my eye. We must have too many voles around here-I never see one past dawn.

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

Comment posted by Steve Canuel on April 20, 2011 at 9:41 PM

Great wing positions and head angle. Love the speckled details in the wings.

Registered on September 12, 2010, 53 Posts, 660 Comments

Comment posted by Sharon Hallowell on April 20, 2011 at 10:27 PM

Awesome job of driving and shooting! Wonderful image. Sharon

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

Comment posted by John Blumenkamp on April 20, 2011 at 11:31 PM

Great job Ron! I can see that red truck cruising right along... lol. Great job on the exposure and handling the light you were given.

Registered on February 26, 2011, 58 Posts, 313 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on April 21, 2011 at 12:00 AM

What luck to find him in the day, and then get into a good position!

Great detail, pose, and BG here - excellent, as always -

Sandy

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

Comment posted by Barbara Graham on April 21, 2011 at 12:32 AM

Ron, this is just beautiful. Especially in the larger view the owl is well lit, in my opinion, and of course you have wonderful detail and sharpness and clarity.

Registered on July 27, 2010, 1310 Posts, 5035 Comments

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on April 21, 2011 at 4:36 AM

I'm with Ron - what are owls doing out during the day??
Nice one Ron - very sharp

cheers
Rob

Registered on November 8, 2003, 617 Posts, 8267 Comments

Comment posted by Mike Gallo on April 21, 2011 at 6:48 AM

Excellent image Ron

Sounds like a very exciting capture..........great work

Registered on September 14, 2005, 182 Posts, 1471 Comments

Comment posted by keith mitchell on April 21, 2011 at 2:04 PM

Ron looks like your mad driving paid off ,this Owl looks really good i like the bit of blood and the muddy feet really tells a story.

Keith.

Registered on July 12, 2008, 127 Posts, 1735 Comments

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on April 21, 2011 at 5:42 PM

Ron,

Your maneuvering was great! Lovely flight pose, view of the face and the blood on it, along wth the muddy feet. The way our weather is going I am almost certain every bird must have muddy feet. I love the background in this photo shows the old brown skeltons of plants from last year and the green new growth. Yeah, maybe spring is finally pushing ole man winter away. Love that you got light in the eye.

Registered on June 25, 2007, 491 Posts, 12566 Comments

Comment posted by Jenaya Launstein on April 22, 2011 at 2:07 PM

Great shot! I love his colours, they look really cool. I also really like how his wings are spread out all the way.

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

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on April 22, 2011 at 4:18 PM

Wow, well done Ron, good eye to spot this, I like everything about this, wing spread, eye contact and background color, a pleasure to view, great job in getting this and positioning.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments

Comment posted by Cheryl Molennor on April 22, 2011 at 8:33 PM

Super cool. Your so lucky to have owls thatshow there faces in the daylight. The white feathers are so prettyand you got great detail IMO

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

Comment posted by Michael Lotito on April 23, 2011 at 8:10 AM

Wonderful barn owl! They are on my short list of subjects. Great background.

Registered on June 26, 2009, 181 Posts, 1558 Comments

Comment posted by Fabio Giarrizzo on April 23, 2011 at 4:56 PM

Awesome flight shot- Whites are perfectly exposed, and the delicate, warm color palette is superb- My best congrats, Fabio

Registered on December 3, 2010, 90 Posts, 1614 Comments

Comment posted by Charlie VanTassel on April 26, 2011 at 11:51 AM

I'm speechless. Don't know how I missed this one. Just perfect, Ron.

Registered on October 18, 2006, 644 Posts, 4801 Comments