Dawn's early light

Ron-this is a sensational capture. I love the stealth look of the bird emerging from the dark background and the first light of the day falling on his face.

Ron , this IS a departure from your other posts, but I really like this. The light on the face and those catchlights are great.

Ron, I love the warm low light and the detail and expression as well as the great wing span. Your crop choice works for me My only nit is that Isee noise in the bg on the larger version.

I really like the golden light and the brown background.

This is one shot where I have some serious camera envy - I've tried this with my 7D with Barn Owls and SEO's in similar light and just tossed them. The bird looks very good, incredibly good given the conditions. The soft light on the bird with the dark background is extraordinarily appropriate for an owl. But in flight - wow.

Ron, This image is my favorite of yours so far. The beautiful light on the owl and you have captured it so very well. The composition is just right for this flight pose. The bg is perfect and the little noise was not noticed by me at all until I read the other comments. Perfect.

what a beauty, Ron. great light and setting, excellent details, and very cool how he is emerging from the dark setting. my personal inclination with the comp would be to see how it looked with the top edge of the owl right about the center of the frame (i.e., a little higher), but that is just an impression, and either way it is fantastic.

I'm with Ron D, I've been watching these ISO 1000/1250 shots and thinking, man, I need a 1DIV--I couldn't get enough SS for that shot with my 7D and the ISO I'm comfortable using. then I have to remind myself that even if I had a 1DIV, even in the same situation, in all likelihood I still would not be coming away with these images. Ron D, yes, but me, not yet. It's good to have something to strive towards, and I'm not talking about a new camera.

oh: and you could post barred owls all year. if they're all the quality you've been posting I can't imagine getting tired of them.

Ron

I agree, this is you best photo. I like the dark background, strait on shot, golden light, and detail.
Looks like you have really made friends with those birds.

"I really like the light on the owl and the relative dark BG." Me too! This is as good as it gets IMO.

The crop with the owl at the bottom makes the image seem more intimate. I really like the overall darkness of the image, and the owl doesn't get lost in the BG at all. The lighting is perfect and brightens the eyes and leading edge of the wings nicely. A beauty Ron.

Well done, Ron.
Great low light work. Inspiring!
Neil

Sweet! I agree with Cheryl on the large image - easy fix though.

Ron,
Superlatives are not enough. This is the best light, composition, background, sharpness combo yet in your series. My favorite so far. The low comp really works for me. I too have ISO envy. Could not even dream of getting this with my D300s. I really don't like going over 400 but occasionally I have to. I've ordered my new D4 so I hope to be getting low light images very soon in the future although who knows when this body will actually ship.
The catch light you mention is indeed very low on the eye ball indicating a very low sun. The fact that you got this tack sharp with only 1/1000 is an indication of your talents that many of us aspire to. I could never get tired of these images with such stunning light. Kudos Ron!!

Oh my! I am green with envy! Couldn't ask for better, Ron. This one sets the "barred owl" for the rest of us (pun intended). A lovely and unique low light shot.

Amazing Ron - such great light and yet such a sharp detailed shot - well done

Superb shot. Beautiful, though difficult, light. It's amazing that you could track the bird in that low light. Love the catch light in the eyes.

Beautiful image Ron. i agree that the light and background are excellent.
May