Authentic Alberta

Hi everyone! I'm just going to start off by saying you really need to look at the larger version of this to see why I posted it here! Also, I wasn't sure whether the moderators would want to move this to Man and Nature, but I thought I'd start here because the only reason I composed the shot was the Avian subjects.

This is truly an Alberta scene! The windmills, cattle, and fields in the background are part of our energy and agriculture, and the three Great Horned Owls perched on the old granary are our Provincial bird! It's hard to get more iconic Alberta in one frame than this I think!

As much as we search for them, my dad and I don't have the opportunity as often as we'd like to actually photograph owls, so when we do we work hard to get the right shot. Earlier this year we found three juvenile GHO's living inside an old granary. Much to our surprise, they actually stuck around for us to photograph them. I tried all kinds of different angles, and this is one of my favourites. It was a bit of a challenge timing the shot to coincide with good poses from all three owls AND decent positions on the blades of the windmills as they turned!

The owls ended up staying there the rest of the season so far, giving us the opportunity to expand our collection of images of them!

In case you can't spot all three, there is one to the left of the window and two below it.

Thank you for looking!

Nikon D600
Nikkor AF-S 200-400mm f/4G VR IF-ED lens @ 200mm
ISO 800
1/160sec @ f/8
Feisol Tournament Carbon CT-3342 tripod with Feisol Carbon Fiber Ballhead CB-50DC

Processing Notes:
Converted from RAW using Phase One Capture One Pro 7
Minor adjustments to tone and contrast in Nik Color Efex Pro 4 and Viveza 2 with additional selective curves and blending in PS5
Selective sharpening
100% full frame
Dust spots removed in sky thanks to D600 particulate issue