Searching for Dinner

Gallery: AvianPosted January 20, 2013115 views6 comments

Hi all! This is the same beautiful and insanely-cooperative Great Grey Owl pictured in my daughter Marlise's post here. This owl may rank as the nicest wild subject I've ever photographed...at least the nicest to the photographer. It simply sat there and struck poses for us as the late-evening light fell, occasionally moving a fence post closer or further in his search for movement in the grass. As Marlise reported, it suddenly lifted off and flew almost straight toward us, slamming into a mouse scurrying undetected (to us) just beside us. We found this owl again the next evening and he proved just as comfortable and cooperative again, but sadly was in nowhere near as nice light.

The challenge actually became capturing images of this stunning bird looking in our direction...he simply accepted our presence and more or less ignored us! While I do have several images with that classic and powerful eye-contact these owls can give, I love this pose as he turned to check out a grey jay in a nearby tree.

Mostly, I am so pleased to have finally found one of these guys in good light! I love the warm evening sunlight painting the background, even if it didn't make it through the shade to touch my subject. I was also very appreciative when the owl chose this post to perch on, as I love the weathered look and the patch of moss on top.

I was tempted to remove the very OOF grey branch in the background in the lower right, but prefer to leave my images untouched unless the distraction is just too great.

Anyway, I hope you like this one and are as taken with the subject as I am. I welcome your comments and suggestions for improvement!

Field Notes:
Nikon D7000
Nikkor AF-S 300mm f/4 IF-ED
ISO 400
1/160sec @ f/5
-0.3EV to retain detail in whites
tripod mounted
electronic shutter release (cable)

Processing Notes:
Converted from RAW using Phase One Capture One Pro 7 with adjustments to colour balance, contrast and minor recovery of highlights
minor adjustments in Nik Viveza 2.0 and selective curves
usual selective sharpening
full frame (or nearly)

Comments

6 comments

Comment posted by Alan Murphy on January 20, 2013 at 10:09 PM

Sweet. Without the Jay in the image, there is no context for the head angle. I would prefer the face on pose.

Registered on December 3, 2003, 192 Posts, 739 Comments

Comment posted by Sharon Hallowell on January 20, 2013 at 10:37 PM

Super details and a great subject. Branches on either side do not bother me, and I really like the lichens on the post. Sharon

Registered on November 1, 2003, 392 Posts, 4810 Comments

Comment posted by Dan Roberts on January 21, 2013 at 12:02 AM

Yet another awesome owl. Excellent detail and a nice complimentary BG.

Registered on March 9, 2011, 69 Posts, 501 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Schiebelbein on January 21, 2013 at 12:57 AM

I don't mind this type of head angle pose at all however I think it works a bit better if you allow for a bit more room on the side the subject is looking into. Still a very pretty image with very nice feather detail, an interesting perch and a very pleasing BG. Well done.

Registered on November 8, 2008, 55 Posts, 393 Comments

Comment posted by David E Lester on January 21, 2013 at 9:53 AM

Just superb....

Registered on March 24, 2010, 155 Posts, 793 Comments

Comment posted by John Launstein on January 30, 2013 at 3:55 AM

Thanks, everyone! I know...everyone likes to see that intense eye contact you can get with this species, and I do have several very similar to this with the face-on pose, but I liked this profile shot and always prefer images where the photographer hasn't so obviously become the point of the subject's attention.

I'm glad you like this one as well. Sure can't wait for the return of these owls to my part of the world this early-summer!

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