Winter sunshine Barn Owl

MKII-N, 600 + 1.4x, ISO400, 1/640s @ f5.6, manual, C1 Pro
Beautiful bird, last minutes of gorgeous light before the clouds came over and two out of fifteen frames had an unbroken complimentary background. How lucky can you get
Having shot these frames a quick chimp on the screen confirmed the capture and I left him in peace to continue hunting in the gathering gloom.

Regards

JohnS

I love the sharp head and the movement in the wings

And that light is cracking.And so is the shot

great shot, where was that taken??? was out myself this evening but no joy

Hi John

A cracking image.

Only nit for me is it a bit tight in the frame, otherwise a top notch shot, super light.

cheers

Sean

John

A lovely bird in great light with lovely complimentary background colours. Sharp where it needs to be with the right amount of blur in the wings to convey movement. Possibly a touch tight in the frame but that makes the bird stand out which I like. Could possibly have used a bit of extra room on the right for the bird to fly into but that is a very minor nit. A lovely image all round.

John Lee

Hi John,

Absolutely stunning. I know that a shot like this takes a lot of ground work and waiting and it has really paid off, well done. It could only have been bettered if he was looking straight at you, but hey there's always tomorrow .

The Barn Owl opposite my home is not coming out of the box until around 16.45 which is way to dark for images unfortunatly, But another Owl at my other nest box is appearing at around 14.00, I guess they all have different dinner times

Regards

Rob

John

This is probably the best BO shot I have ever seen and nice to see a wild owl on this forum for a change!

Brian

Very nice.

Phillip.

Super, I like the slight movement caught in the wings and the sharp look of intent.

Really good image John, and as Rob says the days of pre-work well rewarded here.

I've no idea how to even go about getting a photo of and wild owl in flight, this is a beutiful shot. The blur in the wings and the smooth background give it a real sense of movement.

Raff

Magical, everything spot on



Mark

Hi John
a cracking image of a bird I would like to photograph. In my area they do not come out to hunt until it is dark what a bummer.
John
Aberdeen.

Hello John
It certainly gets my vote too, excellent owl image.
Best wishes
Phil

Brilliant shot, John. Although Rob mentioned it could only be bettered if it was looking at you, I actually like the fact that it's mind is on it's quarry, which gives it a much more natural look.

Tip: Barn owls won't normally hunt in the rain as their soft features get waterlogged, plus they are less able to hear their prey. So if you have a consistently rainy night, a hungry bird will often be seen hunting in the morning once the rain stops (their day-time hunting is also at it's peak when they have hungry young in the spring)

Ian

A perfect balance with the sharp eyes and motion on the wings. Great light. I think its a cracker!

Great shot John, Just a comment to go with Ians tip, 2 years ago whilst out and about with Pete Etheridge we saw 5 or 7 barn owls hunting in the pouring rain in the same field, when I say 5 or 7 its because I can`t remember! Pete will correct this I expect!

That's a lovely shot.

I like it just as is.

There is what appears to be a dust spot - top right of the image?

Regards

Cracking shot, all been said above.

Gavin

Excellent work John . The buzz from seeing and getting the shot is what it's about

I've had a bash at Barn Owls and it takes a lot for a shot like this to come together...light, close proximity and good camera skills. You bagged the lot here!

BTW not even had a sniff of a decent shot



Graeme

I WANT ONE! What a superb photo, John