Feb. 2017 GOTM

Long-eared Owl

A couple years ago there was a pair of Long-eared Owls wintering near where I live in western Washington State. Unfortunately though, I could only find them out in the open well after the sun had went down.

I noticed that when they are hunting from a perch they're fairly motionless for 5 to 10 seconds or more as they scanned the fields looking for prey. After several dissatisfying attempts to make images using a high ISO, I decided to try something a bit different.

I tried a similar technique that many landscape photographers use to create images with a slow shutter speed. I brought my ISO down to an acceptable range for noise control, which in turn gave me an extremely slow shutter speed, I spot focused on the owls eye, set the mirror to lock up, then I would release the shutter with an electronic release when the owl seemed like he would be motionless for a few seconds as he scanned the field for a meal. Not all the images were sharp, but a few turned out nicely. This technique is probably not practical in most wildlife situations, but it seems to work fairly well with owls. 

Canon 7DII; 600mm; 1/5; f8; ISO 1250; manual spot meter; mirror lifted; electronic trigger release; Gitzo Tripod; RRS - BH55 Ballhead

All your comments and suggestions are very much appreciated.