Barred Owl And Spanish Moss

[Joseph Przybyla]

I captured this image of a Barred Owl at Circle B Bar Reserve in Polk County, Florida. Comments and critique welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for viewing.

Nikon D7000
Nikon 80-400mm F/4.5-5.6 VRII AF-S ED shot at 400mm (600mm FFE)
1/125 F/5.6 Matrix Metering EV 0 ISO 450 AWB, camera supported by a monopod
Post processed in Lightroom CC and Photoshop CC 2017
Cropped for composition and presentation

[Bill Dix]

I recognize this guy. The setting makes for a beautifully artistic composition. Very nicely conceived and executed, Joe.

[Geoffrey Montagu]

Good to see his familiar face again. Nicely composed Joe, and I like the vertical crop framed with the Spanish moss.

Geoffrey




http://500px.com/geoffreymontagu (http://500px.com/geoffreymontagu)

[Daniel Cadieux]

Pretty neat setting you found it in. I like the alert posture. Good vertical comp. Nice moody lighting conditions. If anything, I'd be tempted to tone down the mosses along the top right.

[keith mitchell]

Joe I am really enjoying seeing all these magnificent Owls been posted,the way you have captured this one in a typical Florida mossy habitat is great,thanks for showing us this lovely piece of work.

Keith.

[William Dickson]

Pretty cool Joe, love it. The bird looks so good framed by the moss.

Very nice

Will

[Steve Kaluski]

1/125 F/5.6 Matrix Metering EV 0 ISO 450 AWB, camera supported by a monopod

The image would benefit from a better SS irrespective of the Monopod which is less stable than a tripod. If you get the opportunity again Joe shoot some with a much higher SS.

[Joseph Przybyla]

The image would benefit from a better SS irrespective of the Monopod which is less stable than a tripod. If you get the opportunity again Joe shoot some with a much higher SS.

Hi Steve, I hear you and agree. I had shot this owl with pretty much the same conditions with a higher shutter speed on an other day. The result was more noise than I wanted caused by early morning diminished light and a shady location. So this time I tried a slower shutter speed to let more light reach the sensor. I thought I could do it because the owl was stationery and calm breeze.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Joe, I have no idea how good the body is at higher ISO, but even at ISO1600 it should be good surely and providing you are working on ETTR basis for exposure, ISO should I would expect to be minimal, then you can address things within PP. I just feel 1/125 with ISO at 450 there is room to push things to ensure a faster SS. A slight camera shake, or movement at 1/125 and it won't be sharp sadly. Good luck.

BTW love the setting, just a bit off the top for me.

Cheers
Steve

PS Greetings from BC Canada. :wave:

[Joseph Przybyla]

Hi Joe, I have no idea how good the body is at higher ISO, but even at ISO1600 it should be good surely and providing you are working on ETTR basis for exposure, ISO should I would expect to be minimal, then you can address things within PP. I just feel 1/125 with ISO at 450 there is room to push things to ensure a faster SS. A slight camera shake, or movement at 1/125 and it won't be sharp sadly. Good luck.

BTW love the setting, just a bit off the top for me.

Cheers
Steve

PS Greetings from BC Canada. :wave:

Got it... guess I went from one extreme to the other. Next time I will try the middle and ETTR.

British Columbia... neat. When are you coming to Florida?

[Marina Scarr]

Lovely image and well framed. I am not seeing a lot of feather details on the face of this owl. I would try a tad more sharpening. I think you can get very sharp shots on a tripod with this speed and lower but it wouldn't hurt to get your images at a lower ISO and then experiment with a # of settings to find out what your camera can and cannot handle.