Great Grey Hunting

Gallery: AvianPosted July 21, 2014126 views5 comments

Hi Everyone! We only got out once this summer to look for Great Grey Owls, but we did manage to find a couple! Sadly, these guys didn't feel like posing much and mostly they just went about hunting the fields and ended up too far away.

I found this owl after the sun had gone down and there wasn't much light left, but I liked how he was perched on the log pile looking for mice or voles with the field behind him.

Thanks for looking!

Nikon D7100
Nikkor AF-S 300mm f/4 IF-ED with TC-14EII
ISO 3200
1/1000sec @ f/5.6
on noodle from truck window

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Dad's Processing Notes:

Converted from RAW using Phase One Capture One Pro 7
Adjustments to tonality and contrast using Nik Color Efex 4 and Viveza with additional adjustments in PS5
Noise reduction using Nik Dfine
Cropped to app 65% of original

Comments

5 comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on July 21, 2014 at 9:22 AM

Excellent composition, Josiah. The lines of the end of the log pile really works to draw the eye to the bird.

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

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on July 21, 2014 at 9:58 AM

Josiah: It has be to great to be able to go out and find a Great Grey owl. You image is a very nice environmental shot showing what the owls do. I like the placement of the owl in the frame and you got a great head turn showing that marvelous "mustache" look. Nicely done.

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

Comment posted by Josiah Launstein on July 22, 2014 at 8:57 PM

Thanks, Dennis and Keith! I LOVE photographing owls! We have Great Horned Owls in the hills and coulees all around our acreage (and they sometimes perch on our house!) but we've never seen a Great Grey this far south. We did have a long-eared owl in our BBQ gazebo last fall though!

I liked the way this owl was perched on the logs so I'm glad you liked that too.

Registered on January 26, 2013, 52 Posts, 126 Comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on July 22, 2014 at 9:50 PM

Not easy to get close to these guys from my minimal experience with them Josiah...but at least you found one and did a great job of composing a good image out of what you were given. Next time, I bet you will get more cooperation form them.

Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments

Comment posted by Josiah Launstein on January 24, 2015 at 4:24 PM

Thank you everyone for commenting on my picture.

Registered on January 26, 2013, 52 Posts, 126 Comments