Barred Owl

Gallery: AvianPosted June 18, 2011101 views7 comments

I apologize for the length of this narrative but this was such a cool experience for me I hope you'll indulge me:
It was about 2AM when I crossed over the Appalachian Gap and the Eastern Slopes of the Green Mountains of Vermont when I noticed this Barred Owl flying along side me. The owl flew ahead about 25 yards and then perched upon a tree. I stopped the car abeam the bird and just watched him for several minutes from the side of the road. Taking the chance that he would not fly off, I slowly emerged from the vehicle, opened the hatchback, and assembled my rig. The headlights offered enough illumination for me to manually focus on the bird and using my Speedlight along with diffused light from the headlights, I captured this image. I was concerned the flash might be an issue but the owl stood perched for at least 10 minutes- so I don't think he was bothered by the light.

Noise reduction on the all but the bird and some selective reduction of slight red eye on the owl.

D3s
300mm f/2.8
1/500sec @ f/5.6
ISO 5000
-1.0 EV
SB-900
HH
Manual Focus

Comments

7 comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on June 18, 2011 at 11:45 PM

Nice catch, Chuck. Excellent job on the focus and the lighting combination worked well. The stub in front of the Owl is too bad, but it doesn't look like you had any other angles to choose from.

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

Comment posted by Ray Whitt on June 19, 2011 at 8:27 AM

I like the way you illuminated the owl, excellent feather detail.
Ray

Registered on May 27, 2011, 92 Posts, 2619 Comments

Comment posted by Cam Held on June 19, 2011 at 9:49 AM

Great story and equally impressive image! I wish he had a bit more of a catchlight, but feather detail is great!

-Cam

Registered on November 12, 2009, 59 Posts, 398 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on June 19, 2011 at 10:55 AM

Really a nice image under the lighting conditions, Chuck. The high ISO on that camera is pretty impressive. I can see a bit of noise in the bird, but not anything that is a big deal to me.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments

Comment posted by Angela McCain on June 19, 2011 at 12:19 PM

Cool image and story. Impressive for a 2am image. My story usually ends with 10 minutes of setup and the bird flys away just as I get ready for the first shot.

Registered on April 19, 2009, 367 Posts, 3589 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on June 19, 2011 at 1:55 PM

ISO 5000! Hard to believe by anybody like me from the days of film. You did well with these conditions.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Dudley on June 19, 2011 at 7:48 PM

I'm definitely impressed - by the quality of the image under those conditions, by your ability to function at 2 AM and by the performance of your camera at ISO 5000. I know how excited you must have been for this experience Chuck. Excellent job!

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