Great Gray Landing

Gallery: AvianPosted May 31, 2016152 views9 comments

I'm currently in Yellowstone for my annual spring park adventure. It's always exciting to find great gray owls back in the woods, though sometimes a bit unnerving, as I ran into a grizzly bear on my own in nearly the exact spot a couple days earlier.

In this case, the owl was perched and hunting on the far end of a meadow, largely obscured by branches and deadfall. It didn't make for great photography, but finally it decided to fly to a more open perch, which allowed those present to nail a couple landing shots.

Canon 1DX
Canon 600mm + 1.4x
ISO 3200
1/800th
f/5.6
(Processed on laptop, so color may be slightly off; NR applied to background)

Max

Comments

9 comments

Comment posted by Charles Gangas on May 31, 2016 at 10:30 AM

Very nice landing pose Max, nice that he moved out into the open for you. devil

Registered on August 12, 2009, 544 Posts, 2414 Comments

Comment posted by Jim DeWitt on May 31, 2016 at 1:24 PM

Great landing shot, Max. Is it motion blur or focus on the bird's right wing tips? Can't tell from the mall post. I do see a slight bluish cast; easily fixed.

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

Comment posted by Steve Thompson on May 31, 2016 at 2:37 PM

Cool moment of capture Max and I like the habitat in the frame. I'm seeing the color cast Jim mentioned too. Nice work!

Registered on August 7, 2014, 125 Posts, 2319 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on May 31, 2016 at 6:05 PM

Nice landing shot, Max. Great gaze intensity.

devil

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

Comment posted by Matt Shellenberg on May 31, 2016 at 8:33 PM

Awesome capture Max. I really like that you were able to capture the wooded environment but keep the owl in the open. I do see a slight blue cast, but probably due to laptop as you mention. Really nice image.

Registered on February 6, 2008, 168 Posts, 3118 Comments

Comment posted by David Schoen on June 1, 2016 at 12:06 PM

Very nice to be able to get an action shot appearing so close up. Has more the feel of a wide-angle shot telephoto shot. I like it.

Registered on November 6, 2006, 1213 Posts, 4587 Comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on June 1, 2016 at 10:06 PM

Excellent wing position on this Great Gray Max. Nice job of timing the framing on this as well. If mine, I might be tempted to add a tiny bit of contrast and warm it up a little (which would also remove the blue color cast mentioned). Still very nice work!

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

Comment posted by Max Waugh on June 3, 2016 at 12:45 PM

Thanks, everyone. I will certainly be on the lookout for the coolish tones once I get this on the home computer.

Jim, I think you're just seeing motion blur. I didn't want to push the ISO too high (though the 1DX does okay beyond 3200), so I took my chances with 1/800th. Obviously not quite fast enough to nail everything tack sharp.

Max

Registered on September 26, 2008, 428 Posts, 2329 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Leggett on June 6, 2016 at 2:49 PM

Great timing on the framing and wing spread, Max.

Registered on July 21, 2004, 706 Posts, 3233 Comments