Short-Eared Approach

Gallery: AvianPosted December 22, 2011385 views15 comments

I've been spending more time in the avian gallery than I would've ever expected, but it's been a great couple weeks for owls up here.

Yesterday I returned to one of the short-eared owl spots I visited on Monday, hoping to finally have some brighter conditions to work with. The overcast sky did not oblige, but the one owl near the trail was very active. It gave me a couple hours, during which it spent much of the time in the air, circling and hunting over the wide grassy expanse. It was a great session, since it gave me plenty of opportunities to screw up, and it also gave the sky a chance to brighten up a bit so I could dial down the ISO a bit.

Near the end, it banked back toward me, giving me a shot I've wanted for some time: an owl flying right at me. This is maybe 30-35% of the original frame. Had to run a couple of noise reduction passes to temper the 7D noise a bit.

Canon 7D
Canon 500mm f/4 IS
ISO 800
1/1250th
f/4
-1/3 exp. comp

Max

Comments

15 comments

Comment posted by Eric Diller on December 22, 2011 at 11:08 AM

Nice head on approach....well captured!

Registered on October 2, 2009, 69 Posts, 434 Comments

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on December 22, 2011 at 11:09 AM

Max: Sweet shot! Normally I'm not a big fan of flat wing positions, but this one seems to really work. I like the diagonal. Background is nice (a bit noisy but easify fixed with a bit of selective NR). Congrats on this fine image.

Registered on November 20, 2003, 458 Posts, 4836 Comments

Comment posted by John Blumenkamp on December 22, 2011 at 11:53 AM

Fantastic capture Max! I think the flat wings really let the eyes pop in this image, and that nice background also really makes them stand out. I also like the crop and diagonal position of the owl in the frame. Nice work!

Registered on February 26, 2011, 58 Posts, 313 Comments

Comment posted by William Bickle on December 22, 2011 at 12:56 PM

Hello Max

Well worth the wait ! Very nice Capture.

thanks for sharing

Bill

Registered on June 13, 2011, 183 Posts, 1702 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on December 22, 2011 at 1:27 PM

Wonderful head on flight picture with the contrast between the owl and background. Could you some more NR on background only but a fine shot and what an experience to be able to spend hours photographing owls, way to cool.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on December 22, 2011 at 1:46 PM

Killer Catch Max

Love the eye contact and head-on diagonal position of the owl. The backgorund is very complimentary, but I agree that it could use a bit more noise control.

Ken Archer

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

Comment posted by Tonia Graves on December 22, 2011 at 3:29 PM

Max, sweet head-on shot! I like the diagonal position of the wings & the intense eyes. The background color is good but still is a little noisy. Congrats on a great shot!

Registered on October 29, 2011, 92 Posts, 1035 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Dudley on December 22, 2011 at 7:25 PM

Nice light and great head-on approach from the owl. Sharpness looks good and I like the background colors. I know full well the challenges of shooting this species in low light with that camera and lens. I just don't think that at that ISO with the 7D and this large a crop that the background noise can be effectively dealt with.

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

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on December 22, 2011 at 8:01 PM

Sweet image, Max. I'm a bit surprised at the noise issues, even at iso 800. I get quite a bit of noise with my &D, but it seems pretty easily tamable with the noise reduction software I use. Great angle on the owl and it looks tack sharp.

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

Comment posted by David Haynes on December 22, 2011 at 9:18 PM

Max,
Your persistence paid off handsomely. Beautiful frontal shot of this owl. Nicely done. Merry Christmas Max.

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

Comment posted by Max Waugh on December 22, 2011 at 9:35 PM

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. I'm quite happy with the results given the conditions. As Ron mentioned, with this large of a crop, a lot of noise is inevitable with the 7D at 640, 800 or higher. I can play around with the NR more of course, or selectively blur the background if I choose to make some large prints, but it's unlikely that I'll distort things too much unless it's absolutely necessary.

Hopefully next time I'll finally get a bit of sunlight to work with in the morning. They have "shut down" and stopped hunting by 9:30-10 both times I've been there, so the conditions really need to be right from the get-go.

Max

Registered on September 26, 2008, 428 Posts, 2329 Comments

Comment posted by Suzanne Huot on December 22, 2011 at 11:03 PM

He looks really nice and sharp where it matters as he heads your way .They are such speedsters and dive and whirl aroound so much .great job in capturing him in flight in the less than perfect conditions.

Registered on December 28, 2010, 32 Posts, 240 Comments

Comment posted by Angela McCain on December 22, 2011 at 11:20 PM

Great image. I love the directness of the eye contact. Comp you have chosen is excellent with nice diagonal line. I would do a bit of noise reduction on the background.

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

Comment posted by Butch Lama on December 23, 2011 at 10:55 AM

Ahhh... Striking image Max, love that diagonal tipping wingtips corner to corner of the frame with awesome eye contact.

Registered on July 23, 2010, 42 Posts, 316 Comments

Comment posted by Robert Bunch on December 26, 2011 at 7:59 PM

Great shot! The owls colors and the BG match very well and the yellow eyes and white trim look really swell! I saw some of your photography in the Super 8 lobby in Gardiner Mt. this fall. Coyote and otter. Very nice.

Registered on May 18, 2004, 124 Posts, 2503 Comments