Great Horned Owl Owlet

Gallery: AvianPosted April 24, 201195 views8 comments

A friend of mine invited me over to their lake property to observe and photograph and Great Horned Owl family that was nesting in one of the pine trees in their front yard. There is a window of about 1 hour prior to sun down that they start getting active. I finally got the shot of this owlet with fading light, forcing me top up the ISO.

Canon EOS 30D
1/90s f5.6
ISO 1600
EF500mm f/4 + 1.4x

Comments

8 comments

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on April 24, 2011 at 5:32 PM

The setting is great Mark, I like how the owlet isn't focused on you but we can still see the eyes well. Comp works nicely for my tastes. It does appear your focus was more on the branches in front of the owl as the eyes of the owl look a tiny bit soft, that might have shown better though in a larger version than posted

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

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on April 24, 2011 at 5:59 PM

This looks quite good to me given the low lighting situation you were dealing with Mark.

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by John Blumenkamp on April 24, 2011 at 7:06 PM

Hi Mark... nice comp here. I might even crop a little more from the right. I agree with Mia about the focus maybe on the branches? Cool image... hope to see more.

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

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on April 24, 2011 at 8:31 PM

Tough to catch these guys in the open - good work!
Does seem soft, but not ideal lighting..
Sandy

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

Comment posted by Luke Ormand on April 24, 2011 at 8:42 PM

Nice brancher with cool habitat - the oof branch on the bottom is a bit distracting and the owl isn't as sharp as I'd like but the high ISO contrinuted to that. Nice find though!

Registered on February 4, 2009, 1093 Posts, 7035 Comments

Comment posted by Sharon Hallowell on April 24, 2011 at 9:17 PM

I also like that he's not looking right at you. Softness mentioned...but you know where he lives :) Sharon

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

Comment posted by Bob Karcz on April 25, 2011 at 9:05 AM

Good capture! Very nice clean setting. I tried photoing these guys this past week but, too many branches in the way. Great eyes.

Registered on November 8, 2009, 25 Posts, 43 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Canning on April 25, 2011 at 11:19 PM

Very nice image Mark, good job getting the bird in a clearing. The bright patches of sky are kinda distracting, suggest toning them down or cropping more off of the top.

Registered on February 10, 2004, 88 Posts, 549 Comments