Great Horned Owlets

Gallery: AvianPosted April 21, 2012155 views19 comments

These Great Horned Owlets are on one of the owl nest at the Ridgefield National Wildlife refuge. The image was taken this week and I estimate the owlets to be at about 40 days old. They usually begin flying at around 63-70 days according to the Audubon encyclopedia, so about another 3 weeks of observation in the nest. If interested I shot 2 more short videos with my 7D (videos are a new experience,) they are marked Apr 18 and available at -
http://www.craigstrandphotography.com/p879369337

Larger image available, "Thanks for stopping!"

canon 7D
canon 600mm f4.L IS USM + 1.4TC
F/8 1/30 ISO 640
auto window beanbag lens rest, CS5, LR3, NIKs suite

Comments

19 comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on April 21, 2012 at 3:46 PM

Great look at these cuties! Wonderful to get all eyes visible too.

Sandy

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

Comment posted by Rick Turner on April 21, 2012 at 7:38 PM

Compelling eyes of the owls awesome..

Registered on February 18, 2012, 534 Posts, 2755 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hansen on April 21, 2012 at 8:30 PM

Great shot. I always enjoy seeing these big fluffballs. Enjoyed your video of the owls and also the bittern. Very nice stuff.

Registered on May 5, 2011, 161 Posts, 908 Comments

Comment posted by Luke Ormand on April 21, 2012 at 9:02 PM

Everything about this image is sweet - great color, saturation, habitat and wary looks in the eyes of the youngsters. I shot an owlet today and boy it was nothing like this

Registered on February 4, 2009, 1093 Posts, 7035 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on April 21, 2012 at 9:18 PM

Sweet photo this super cute pair Craig!!! Great alert look on both owlets, excellent detail for such a slow shutter. Excellent work

ken Archer

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

Comment posted by Verdon on April 21, 2012 at 10:30 PM

What a great shot of siblings,,,,,,,,,,, nice eyes contact!

Registered on June 10, 2011, 147 Posts, 1444 Comments

Comment posted by John Launstein on April 22, 2012 at 3:26 AM

Craig, this is a fantastic owlet capture. Very strong comp, excellent techs, and a great look and feel to it. Love the intense stares. I love the perch and your inclusion of just enough habitat to tell the story without lessening the impact of the image. I'm jealous!

Registered on April 5, 2011, 223 Posts, 1193 Comments

Comment posted by Fabio Giarrizzo on April 22, 2012 at 3:39 AM

Great picture of those little guys- Fine detail and a warm palette on this one- An excellent composition as well- My congrats, Fabio

Registered on December 3, 2010, 90 Posts, 1614 Comments

Comment posted by Sally Wood on April 22, 2012 at 6:42 AM

Grat shot of these little guys.. I love the setting wth the tree. Compelling look in those eyes!

Registered on March 8, 2012, 39 Posts, 509 Comments

Comment posted by Patrick O'Healy on April 22, 2012 at 11:41 AM

They are purported to be owls, but I am sure they are Muppets. Great evocative catch.

Registered on March 13, 2011, 326 Posts, 1679 Comments

Comment posted by Jim DeWitt on April 22, 2012 at 3:05 PM

Lovely capture of these kids, Craig. Fine work. Still on the nest of branched?

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

Comment posted by Tonia Graves on April 22, 2012 at 3:58 PM

Good poses and eye contact in this. Out of curiosity did you try any vertical comps?

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

Comment posted by Jenaya Launstein on April 22, 2012 at 6:35 PM

Wow, pretty epic owlet image! The eye contact is great! I like how they have different poses, especially the owlet on the right. The colours look awesome, the tree bark colours really seem to compliment the owlets. Love the bokeh!

Registered on February 8, 2011, 254 Posts, 1302 Comments

Comment posted by Craig Strand on April 22, 2012 at 7:43 PM

Thanks to everyone of you that took a minute to leave your comments on this owlet image. I volunteer at the refuge and so with others have been trying to follow the progress of this years hatch. The adults raised two others last year from the same nest.

Tonia- Yes I did take some vertical format images but haven''t processed them yet as the owlet on the right started sleeping and dropped down lower almost completely out of the picture. Their is a link above to two videos I shot, one is in vertical that gives a little different perspective. Again the owlet on the right sinks down so only the very top of his head appears.

Regards, Craig

Registered on March 30, 2008, 416 Posts, 2885 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on April 23, 2012 at 4:45 PM

Love the overall comp Craig. Nice DOF. No nits from me.

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

Comment posted by May Haga on April 23, 2012 at 9:12 PM

Very nice image Craig. Love the composition.
May

Registered on February 22, 2007, 714 Posts, 8470 Comments

Comment posted by David Haynes on April 24, 2012 at 1:28 AM

Craig,
Everything seems to come together in this image. The blending of the birds with the trees, the composition, the colors, the details. Everything.

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

Comment posted by KC Choo on April 25, 2012 at 2:48 PM

Love this one! The angle of shot is excellent; the ones that have appeared here are quite high up.

Registered on November 15, 2004, 519 Posts, 8278 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on April 29, 2012 at 6:18 PM

Love this image Craig! Great look at the eyes without direct eye contact makes it even better, congrats!

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments