Austral Pygmy Owl

During my May tour in Chile, we were fortunate to see a few different pygmy owls.  I kept hoping to find one perched amid the incredible autumn colors that were blanketing Torres del Paine and the surrounding countryside that week... and we finally got one.  This little fellow was perched near the road, in a grove of mixed colors.

Naturally, I wanted to get the subject lined up in front of the brightest patch of red foliage, but that proved to be very difficult.  I had to stand on the side of our SUV, awkwardly hand-holding my lens over the roof in order to achieve the proper angle.  I mistakenly thought I had the right settings (i.e., enough shutter speed) to get a few sharp shots while holding the big lens in an unstable position, but I was dead wrong.  By the time I figured out I should've bumped up the ISO, the owl had switched perches.  Pretty much the entire sequence was a tick soft.  Though the images were good enough for web use, I figured they were a lost cause... until a client mentioned the Shake Reduction filter in PhotoShop CC (which I've just switched over to).  This was the perfect scenario for trying out that tool... and it actually kinda did the trick.  Now I consider this image semi-acceptable. 

Canon 1DX
Canon 600mm f/4 IS
ISO 800
1/250th
f/5.6
Hand-held, awkwardly

Max