Snowy owl in action

Gallery: AvianPosted April 5, 2011682 views7 comments

This photograph was taken at the Howell Nature Center in Howell, Michigan in January, 2008. The Center cares for permanently injured birds of prey, and the birds are extremely well cared for. The Center sponsors several raptor photography workshops in the fall and winter, and by necessity the birds must be tethered.

This image was taken with a Nikon D300 and Nikkor 300mm f/4 ED-IF AF-S. Camera settings were 1/400s f/5.6 iso200 at 300.0mm in aperture priority mode. The action happened so quickly that I never bumped up the ISO, creating all the movement. The image is full frame.

Comments

7 comments

Comment posted by Rick Cloran on April 5, 2011 at 5:32 PM

The motion on the outer wings is a non-issue for me. It adds to the sense of the shake going on as do the snow flakes falling off to the side. The eyes and beak show well in the large post. The detail present for the cover feathers over the beak is solid. I'd love it if you could bring back just a bit more of the detail in the side of the face. I can see the "cheek" lines so it is there. Ditto the snow just in front of hime where the mounding shows, but not the nice structure present more to the sides. The jess on his right leg shows, but that too is more of a nit on an otherwise very nice capture.

Registered on April 6, 2004, 119 Posts, 1989 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Dudley on April 5, 2011 at 6:40 PM

Great look at those wonderful eyes Jay. Since the wings and upper back are clipped/cut off I might consider cropping even tighter on the main body mass and working to see if more detail can be brought out in the whites of the face. If it were mine I think I'd at least experiment along those lines.

Registered on March 30, 2007, 437 Posts, 10915 Comments

Comment posted by Jim DeWitt on April 5, 2011 at 8:22 PM

I agree with Ron; crop it tight to the face and body. And try to tease a little detail out of the whites in the face.

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

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on April 5, 2011 at 10:52 PM

The feel of action comes across nicely in this image, Jay.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by David Haynes on April 5, 2011 at 11:38 PM

Jay,
What a terrific image of a magnificent bird. The eyes don't get any better than that. The wings don't bother me at all and neather does the motion blur of the wings. The whites could hold a little more detail maybe but other than that I really like this image. Thanks for sharing Jay.

Registered on February 20, 2010, 110 Posts, 1511 Comments

Comment posted by Carol Hyman on April 5, 2011 at 11:40 PM

Thanks for the background information, Jay. In spite of the wing movement, I think you have a dandy capture. I think the motion adds to the image. The only thing I question is the exposure in the face. I wonder if you might be able to bring out more detail in that area. Bring out the black, possibly. Lower the exposure. Work with levels and/or curves. Any of the above might work.

Cheers,

Carol

Registered on January 18, 2007, 597 Posts, 8062 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on April 6, 2011 at 12:33 AM

If this is full-frame, you have lots of pixels to work with.
Although this is nice as is, I'd also try a tight crop around the face to focus on those eye, and as others have said, try to bring out more detail in thw whites.
Really nice image!
Sandy

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments