Snowy Owl

Gallery: AvianPosted April 11, 2014152 views7 comments

April 8, 2014 Salisbury Beach, Massachusetts

Snowy Owls have been at the top of my bucket list. While in the Boston area for Elliot's birthday and baptism, I was only free to shoot one day. It rained all morning and most of the day was shrouded in heavy mist. I saw one Snowy too far away to photograph, and at the end of the day saw this one on the roof of a house as I exited the park. Fortunately the mist lifted for a half hour and I got this shot. Although not the shot of my dreams, it is a snowy.

Nikon D4 Nikkor 600mm 1.4TC 850mm 1/1250 f/8 ISO500 White Balance Cloudy Processed in Lightroom, CS6 and NIK.

Comments welcome

Comments

7 comments

Comment posted by Patricia Brundage on April 11, 2014 at 2:56 PM

I'm glad to see these wherever they land. Nice detail in the feathers and eye contact. The ones I've taken in CT have darker spots on the wings.

Registered on March 23, 2006, 1111 Posts, 6531 Comments

Comment posted by Rick Cloran on April 11, 2014 at 3:35 PM

Patrick, Glad you found one. Always good just to get a clean shot at one of the bucket list birds. It looks to have just a touch of a color cast, cyan I think. Try running auto color in CS6 and see if you think the owl looks better.

Registered on April 6, 2004, 119 Posts, 1989 Comments

Comment posted by Scott Frye on April 11, 2014 at 6:13 PM

Feathers look great -- in owls its about the eyes - the mystery in these eyes is in the right eye -- not sure it its damaged or just hidden in the pov -- got my interest -- gratz on the find

Registered on February 3, 2007, 387 Posts, 1136 Comments

Comment posted by David Haynes on April 11, 2014 at 8:11 PM

Patrick,
So glad that you were able to find one on the one day you had to shoot. Way to go. I'd lop a little bit off the top of this for better balance as it seems there is too much negative space. Maybe half of what's above the birds head. I'd stay a few more days and try and get the shot of your dreams if you can wrangle that. :)

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

Comment posted by Richard Teller on April 11, 2014 at 9:30 PM

Nice sharpness and detail in the owl. I would love to just have a chance at an image of a Snowy.

Registered on August 23, 2010, 1162 Posts, 6692 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on April 11, 2014 at 10:51 PM

Glad you got your Snowy, Patrick, even on a roof. Excellent job on the whites. Looks like it's changed to a more adult plumage. Interesting that it's hanging around there.

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

Comment posted by Hans Overduin on April 12, 2014 at 3:35 AM

Congrats on getting your wanted species Patrick ! The overcast skies made for some nice exposure of the feathers. Cheers, Hans

Registered on August 31, 2011, 491 Posts, 3807 Comments