Snowy in Flight

Gallery: AvianPosted January 22, 2015162 views7 comments

Hi everyone! This is one of my favourites from earlier this month when Jenaya, my dad and I went out to photograph snowy owls. It snowed like crazy all day and we didn't spot an own until right before dark. This was the fourth owl we found and he hunted right in front of us!

We actually watched him turn sharply and catch and eat a vole!

There wasn't a lot of light left and it was pretty snowy and windy so this picture isn't quite as perfect as I wanted. I'm still really happy with getting my first snowy owl in flight picture!

Nikon D7100
Nikkor AF-S 300mm f/4D IF-ED with TC-14EII teleconverter
ISO 3200
1/800sec @ f/7.1
+1.0 EV
handheld - resting on truck window
Cropped to about 75% of original

NOTE FROM DAD: Just to be clear, this is a wild owl observed and photographed hunting naturally in the farmlands outside Calgary, Alberta. The owl was not baited or manipulated in any way...he was just kind enough to put on a show for us. Now if he could have done that a few hours earlier in "regular" ISO light...

"Haze" throughout and apparent noise in the background is effect of snow/blowing snow under heavy overcast at dusk.

Comments

7 comments

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on January 22, 2015 at 8:05 AM

Josiah, I like the composition of this shot, and I like the way that it shows the owl hunting in its habitat. The light was what it was, but I might try to compensate for that a little by pulling in the black point in a Levels layer, and perhaps adding a little mid-tone contrast in curves.

Registered on March 21, 2009, 202 Posts, 4187 Comments

Comment posted by Hans Overduin on January 22, 2015 at 1:27 PM

Another great image from this amazing species ! I so much like the overall atmosphere in this image ! Well done, Cheers, Hans

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

Comment posted by Alberto Patiño on January 22, 2015 at 2:01 PM

Not much you can do about when the owl will decide to do a flyby!!! But I think that the low contrast actually works well, as it gives the image a feeling of reality, even if you don't have as much detail as you would like

Registered on December 2, 2014, 278 Posts, 1736 Comments

Comment posted by Luke Ormand on January 22, 2015 at 5:50 PM

Nice action shot - I like how the bird matches the surroundings so well. Always a pleasure to get these birds in flight. The high ISO robbed some details from you - but overall a real nice image.

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

Comment posted by Philip Hodgkins on January 22, 2015 at 10:54 PM

Not a perfect photo, but excellent given the brutal conditions. Most important it tells a story! Never forget, Josiah—always try to tell a story.

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

Comment posted by Ken Archer on January 23, 2015 at 6:42 AM

I really like the feel of the harsh winter environment of this photo Josiah. A sweet image to illustrate winter survival of the snowy owl.

Excellent Work

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

Comment posted by Josiah Launstein on January 24, 2015 at 12:08 AM

Thank you everyone for commenting on my picture! I can't wait to get these guys in better light. I will be posting more snowy owls soon.

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