Burrowing Owl

[David Salem]

We had a great time with a few new Burrowing Owls early this season. They were transplanted to this location a few months earlier and this was the most outgoing male. The Burrowing owls in my area always hunt those big green Japanese beetles during the fall. Its a lot of fun trying to anticipate the take off and capture them in action.
Here I caught this adult male just as he took off after a flying beetle behind my truck. I really like the well lit eyes on this guy and the little puff of dust from the feet is another feature I like in this image. Hope you like it too.

5D---850mm---f6.3---ss1/4000th---ISO800---Hand held from truck@7:30am---40% crop

Thanks as always for looking and for your input. I appreciate it

David

[gail bisson]

Love, love that BG.
Always exciting to get a tack sharp bird blasting off.
Like you, I like the puff of dust from the perch.
Great frame!
Gail

[David Roach]

Love the takeoff pose, sharpness right where it needs to be, the BG, perch and those eyes. TFS

[Isaac Grant]

This is just to die for Dave. Classic Salem shot with beautiful details, killer action and a perfect background. :5

[Gabriela Plesea]

Stunning image, David - congratulations:cheers:

Super techs and well exposed, pose is superb! Beautifully processed as expected, wonderful colours and BG is awesome.

Always a pleasure to view your images, thank you so much for sharing.

Warmest regards,

[annmpacheco]

Rock n roll Rockstar... Fabulouso Dave, killer frame, lift off, BG, sharpness and the dust left behind. Go Dave!

[William Dickson]

Looking real good David...Killer BG and fab take off pose. You can feel the movement and power from the takeoff. Details perfect as per usual from you. Very well done.

Will

[David Salem]

Thanks everyone!! Its one of my favorite Burrowing owl images!!

[Dumay de Boulle]

Amazing take off pose, superb light and perch with a perfect BG....I would kill for one like it. Burrowing owls look incredible
Head look a little crunchy...Was this the amount of DOF you were looking for?

[Bill Dix]

Superb takeoff pose as he launches himself after the beetle. Great eyes, wonderful light, detail, background. Another Salem killer frame.

[dankearl]

Superb action and timing. The face does appear a bit oversharp... Love the dust.

[David Salem]

Thanks again everyone!

It depends on the monitor you are viewing this with. I looked at it on a laptop and it dose look a little over sharpened but on my Imac it looks great. The TIFF is super sharp so downsizing may have made the face a little crunchy on a low resolution monitor.
Thanks again

[David Salem]

Amazing take off pose, superb light and perch with a perfect BG....I would kill for one like it. Burrowing owls look incredible
Head look a little crunchy...Was this the amount of DOF you were looking for?

Thanks Dumay,

With this type of action shot I am not totally thinking about depth of field but I am more concerned about shutter speed and capturing A-sharp frame. Yes this is what I was hoping for as the feet are not too out of focus but the head is very sharp. Even at f13 I don't think the feet would be razor sharp as they are probably 2" behind the face.
Thanks again, I'm glad you like the image

[Paul Burdett]

Hi David: Not much to add here...an inspirational image. I checked out your website...amazing photos. Your critiques of my photos are valued highly and motivate me to improve. Cheers.

[Colin Driscoll]

Love those eyes clearly focused on that juicy beetle meal.

[Dumay de Boulle]

Thanks for clarifying David!

[Alex Becker]

Top notch image. The pose, details, BG, light, and bit of take off dust are all awesome. I'd love to photograph these guys at some point. TFS

[Arthur Morris]

Sharp with a great pose. As expected :) Was the perch a set-up?

with love, artie

[Mike Poole]

Phenomenal take off pose - I really need to consider one of these Nikon thingies so I can have sharp eyes instead of feet!

Mike

[David Salem]

Sharp with a great pose. As expected :) Was the perch a set-up?

with love, artie
Thanks Artie!

Yes it was, I mentioned it on my last two posts of this guy and even wrote about Glenn and I hunting down suitable perches for the owls but probably should have mentioned it again.

Thanks again

[David Salem]

Phenomenal take off pose - I really need to consider one of these Nikon thingies so I can have sharp eyes instead of feet!

Mike

Hey Mike,

You might seriously, it's a game changer!

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Artie!

Yes it was, I mentioned it on my last two posts of this guy and even wrote about Glenn and I hunting down suitable perches for the owls but probably should have mentioned it again.

Thanks again

Thanks David, Us old folks do not have such good memories :)

with love, artie

[arash_hazeghi]

super take off Dave, I hope the colony gets up to its strength down there