The Catch

Gallery: AvianPosted January 19, 2013223 views14 comments

Hi everyone! I know it's been a LONG time since I posted here but I've still been enjoying all your pictures! My parents got me a new Nikon V1 for my birthday and I'm hoping to get out a lot more with my dad and Jenaya this winter.

My dad was going through our folders from the past year and found a few of my pictures I never posted, so I thought I'd share this one with you.

This picture is from a trip we took last summer in the Alberta foothills looking for Great Grey Owls. This is a different owl than the one my dad posted his series of. This owl let us take pictures of him for almost an hour before he suddenly flew almost beside us into the grass! We all got really low to try and get some good pictures of him but it was impossible to get any without grass in the way. Just before he flew off I saw him put his head down and I squeezed this shot off as he lifted up his catch! My dad and sister didn't get any pictures of this so I'm extra proud I got this one, even though there's grass in front of his eye.

Oh--and of course this owl was NOT baited or called in in any way! He actually kind of scared us when he decided to fly toward us after posing for so long, but it was so cool to see him catch his meal right beside us!

Nikon D7000
Nikkor AF-S 300mm f/4 IF-ED with TC-14EII teleconverter
ISO 400
1/640sec @ f/7.1
-0.3EV
handheld sitting on ground
horizontal 4X5 crop from vertical

Comments

14 comments

Comment posted by David E Lester on January 19, 2013 at 8:35 AM

This is neat, when I first saw it, it looked like an entire face only, the nose of the mouse looks like it was part of a nose on the owl and the mouse body was an extension of te owls mouth and jaw....amazing how your mind sees other things at times...thanks for sharing!!

Dave

Registered on March 24, 2010, 155 Posts, 793 Comments

Comment posted by Hans Overduin on January 19, 2013 at 10:42 AM

Wonderful image, a great catch for all of you, including the Owl ! Well done, Cheers, Hans

Registered on August 31, 2011, 491 Posts, 3807 Comments

Comment posted by Philip Hodgkins on January 19, 2013 at 10:45 AM

Hi, Marlise! The thumbnail looked almost like a lion with a "wave" do, so I was pleasantly surprised to see it was an owl and prey. very well shot through the grass, a really good blend of hunter and habitat.

Registered on July 24, 2006, 2741 Posts, 12349 Comments

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on January 19, 2013 at 10:48 AM

Marlise: I REALLY like this image. It tells such a powerful story without any words. The grass in front of the face adds to the image for me as it keeps everything in context. Your image is a testament to true nature photography.

Registered on November 20, 2003, 458 Posts, 4836 Comments

Comment posted by Christine Adams on January 19, 2013 at 6:00 PM

Really, really nice catch...both for you and it!! You even managed to catch the light in the mouse's eye. Bravo!

Registered on January 24, 2006, 119 Posts, 1871 Comments

Comment posted by Sharon Hallowell on January 19, 2013 at 9:37 PM

Wow! The thumb made me think I was seeing some sort of new ape creature!! Terrific capture! Grasses don't bother me a bit. Sharon

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

Comment posted by Patrick O'Healy on January 19, 2013 at 10:46 PM

Marlise,
I am with Sharon. I first thought this was an ape miss-posted on this site. Great story and catch.

Registered on March 13, 2011, 326 Posts, 1679 Comments

Comment posted by John Launstein on January 20, 2013 at 9:21 PM

Hi Mar - so happy you're posting here again!

And totally jealous you got this shot that completely evaded Jenaya and I (note the green face of my smiley)!

I LOVE how you captured this, too...the foreground grass really makes this powerful to me, even though I wish the two blades interfering with the owl's eye were positioned differently. I can't believe how well you handled all the focus challenges here as well...if you didn't completely nail the focus you came awfully close and the feather detail on his face is awesome.

Pretty sweet that the mouse(?) was hanging from the beak in a way that let you see the face, too!

Just a great image! Did I mention I was jealous?

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

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on January 20, 2013 at 9:55 PM

Wonderful shot and good reaction to get this. I like that you can see the owl's eye and the mouse. That must have been a really cool experience, way to go.

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

Comment posted by Tom Lusk on January 21, 2013 at 9:46 AM

Excellent job of focussing through the grass!

Great that you were able to get both eyes (the owl's and the vole's) in focus.

Registered on September 17, 2005, 312 Posts, 600 Comments

Comment posted by Tom Lusk on January 21, 2013 at 9:47 AM

Excellent job of focussing through the grass!

Great that you were able to get both eyes (the owl's and the vole's) in focus.

Registered on September 17, 2005, 312 Posts, 600 Comments

Comment posted by Marlise Launstein on January 23, 2013 at 12:42 AM

Thanks for all your nice comments!

Registered on August 31, 2011, 28 Posts, 175 Comments

Comment posted by Josiah Launstein on January 26, 2013 at 8:43 PM

Hi Marlise! This is such a good-looking owl and a great image! I can't believe you got a picture of that! I love how he is tucked into the grass holding a mouse.

Registered on January 26, 2013, 52 Posts, 126 Comments

Comment posted by Tim Butler on January 29, 2013 at 2:09 PM

I love how different this is from the typical bird images. Excellent work IMO.

Registered on October 12, 2012, 17 Posts, 155 Comments