Snowy

Gallery: AvianPosted May 15, 2013241 views14 comments

Taken with a very good buddy of mine. Sadly this year they were in far less numbers and a lot more skittish. This was quite a hairy location, slap bang in a Duck hunting location with shells going off left, right, & centre!!!! The wind was extreme, buffeting everything in it's path as there are no real windbreaks, likewise the light was poor, but the 1DX came up trumps!

Steve
Subject: Snowy owl in decaying drift wood {i}(Bubo scandiacus)[/i}
Location: Canada
Camera: Canon 1DX
Lens: 500f/4 MKII plus 1.4x HH
Exposure: 1/3200s at f/6.3 ISO800 0 stop compensation

Comments

14 comments

Comment posted by Claude Dagenais on May 15, 2013 at 7:16 AM

Very nice Steve, almost good that the light was low because you caught the details very well on the whites. Settings are excellent, a bit unfortunate that the upper part is so white but it gives an idea of the weather.

Registered on April 10, 2013, 56 Posts, 571 Comments

Comment posted by John Tobias on May 15, 2013 at 7:28 AM

Good detail in the owl. I like the location you caught it in. I would suggest a tighter crop to remove the upper brighter layer of the shy. I think there is enough in the lower layer to show the environment. Thanks for sharing.

Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments

Comment posted by John Robinson on May 15, 2013 at 8:10 AM

I agree about the pale area at the top. Its a shame about the line on the horizon acoss the back of the birds head too in my humble opinion. Camera position up or down would have helped. Wouildn,t be too bad without the straight bit.
Fine looking bird though- I have to do mine in zoos

Registered on March 2, 2008, 535 Posts, 2453 Comments

Comment posted by keith mitchell on May 15, 2013 at 8:21 AM

Hi Steve
Sounds like !DX does the business but hey! it is in the hand of an expert, I would be more than happy with this excellent shot..

.

Keith

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

Comment posted by Craig Strand on May 15, 2013 at 8:40 AM

I love this image, comp. pose and habitat. Great job!

Registered on March 30, 2008, 416 Posts, 2885 Comments

Comment posted by Stephen Kaluski on May 15, 2013 at 9:06 AM

I was in two minds guys of just using an ND filter and blending the top, easy to do in PP, although there are reasons why I leave things as posted.

Keith you have the D4 and this is proving awesome, generating some lovely work for you to, it's so nice to get out and about and see nature in the wild.

Thanks guys.

Registered on March 25, 2007, 189 Posts, 1064 Comments

Comment posted by Stephen Kaluski on May 15, 2013 at 9:42 AM

With having a darker top certainly helps, however having the band running through just lifted the BKD a bit more, it was looking to uniform as a Gradient.

Thanks again.

Registered on March 25, 2007, 189 Posts, 1064 Comments

Comment posted by Jim DeWitt on May 15, 2013 at 12:19 PM

Terrific, Steve. Excellent color palette and techs. The 1D-X is a trooper in low light, isn't it.

(I see you are a little vague about the location, although you do narrow it down to one, very large country...

)

Registered on August 28, 2006, 1240 Posts, 8506 Comments

Comment posted by Andy Shepherd on May 15, 2013 at 6:42 PM

Hi Steve, love the setting and the low levels of light make the shot IMO. The repost looks much better too.

Andy...

Registered on September 24, 2006, 123 Posts, 1254 Comments

Comment posted by Jefferson Silva on May 15, 2013 at 7:24 PM

The repost is great, IMHO.
I dream about seeing this bird in the wild.

Registered on December 18, 2012, 162 Posts, 975 Comments

Comment posted by Tjie Poo on May 16, 2013 at 12:09 AM

Beautiful capture and lighting. I agree that cropping the top bright sky a bit will make it even better. Well done !

Registered on December 4, 2012, 51 Posts, 511 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Watkins on May 16, 2013 at 2:28 AM

Not to sure about this the "one eye" look is far from ideal although different from the norm.
I find the "branch" behind and above the head quite distracting.

Registered on December 15, 2010, 1537 Posts, 4877 Comments

Comment posted by Greg Oakley on May 16, 2013 at 3:11 AM

Beautiful image of a great species, Steve. I actually preferred the original post - the horizon looks more natural,
Cheers, Greg

Registered on June 12, 2012, 115 Posts, 266 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on May 16, 2013 at 3:25 AM

I like the first version better also. Looks like this owl has been having a rough winter. Nice feather detail.

Ken Archer

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