Perching Barred Owl

[Michael Thompson]

I saw this Owl hunting from some low perches this evening. It was really dark, and I was hand holding, so I had to use super high iso, but I thing it still turned out pretty good. Noise reduction needed for the background, a bit of sharpening on the Owl, done in light room. Canon 7Dll with the 100-400ll. 1/4000ss,278mm, f/5.6, 5000iso!!(auto iso on)

[Randy Stout]

Michael:

I think it turned out very nicely. Good detail where it is expected, I find the facial disc often looks a bit soft, even with perfect conditions.

I certainly would have considered trading some shutter speed for ISO, even if you were getting ready for him to fly.

Cheers

Randy

[Russ Norwood]

I agree, it turned out very well under the circumstances. It doesn't seem all that long ago that ISO800 seemed high. ISO5000 is still amazing to me and a reminder of how far we've come in a few short years.

In this case it seems unnecessary given the shutter speed you chose. I'd have thought you could easily get away with 1/1000 or maybe even 1/250 with that lens. If so, you might have ended up with less noise (not that it's very noticeable in the shot you posted).

Nice catch!

Russ

[Michael Thompson]

Thanks for the comments! I was sitting here wondering about the comments about my shutter speed, when it finally occurred to me to look at my post again. I shot it at 1/400 th haha, I don't know how that extra zero got in there?:eek3: in that dim of light, at 1/4000 I would have had black frames regardless of ISO! :w3 I tried some at 100 to 250th, but this was the sharpest shot. I still need to practice my hand holding skills, but my new lens is amazing! I didn't even bother shooting owls in low light with my old 400mm.

[Diane Miller]

Gorgeous catch in a great environment! Excellent sharpness, especially for hand holding at 1/400! It looks a bit overexposed -- what a luxury!! I wonder if you tried some slight exposure reduction?

[Michael Thompson]

Gorgeous catch in a great environment! Excellent sharpness, especially for hand holding at 1/400! It looks a bit overexposed -- what a luxury!! I wonder if you tried some slight exposure reduction?

Thanks Diane. I think darkening it a bit would work, and would make it look more like the natural light it was in. I will try that on my next post, I got several sharp ones of this bird on various perches all around the same brightness.

[John Robinson]

All been said really. Like the vegetation background.. I reckon the whole shot could stand a very slight drop in gamma. No big deal though
John

[David Salem]

Nice clear shot of this handsome owl. Looks like it could use some blacks or clarity to bring out the contrasting details in this. Nice and sharp and it's cool to see the talons. Well done

[Marina Scarr]

Agree on adding some blacks here. To my eyes this bird could definitely use some sharpening, esp the facial disc. Lovely pose and environment.

[Michael Thompson]

OK< lots of requests for darker, I finally got my lazy but to the pc and dragged it into lightroom to darken it a bit, added a little clarity, dehaze, and sharpening too, let me know what you think :)