A vole having a bad day

[Jack Backs]

It's taken +10 outings, but I finally managed to get a Short-eared Owl with a prey item. Not the greatest light. It was from behind the bird more than I would have liked.
I dodged the face a little to even out the illumination as best I could. I park on the side of the road and get up in the bed of my pickup to get a better angle. I have to use
a tripod with my beast of a lens. Getting a 800mm/6.3 isn't looking good for this year.
Nikon Z9, 500mmF4VRII, TC-14EIII, FTZ adapter. Duct taped together to prevent contact glitches.
f5.6, 1/2500s, iso800

[Jonathan Ashton]

Super shot, very good angle and spot on focus. The background is pretty much ideal - just a hint of texture there.
As for the vole I reckon he won't have any more bad days... so there's always an upside!
My only slight reservation is the darkest plumage is featureless. Having said that I like the image very much indeed, I have been going down to the marshes daily for my Shortie but I have not even seen it this year.

[Jack Backs]

Yeah. I have quite a few closer images than this one and it seems that no matter how close or sharp the rest of the bird is, the dark feathers behind the face have a soft look to them.

[Dorian Anderson]

Yeah, the prey really makes this shot! Ideally, the owl would have been flying the other way, into the light, but as it the prey is in the spotlight. You can't do much about the flat/obscured right wing,
but you could try to lighten the face a bit; the blacks around the eye look blocked, even if the eye cracks against them. This is where it would have been helpful to have the bird going left. But that's
why nature photography is fun; you can't direct the subjects (except by at set-ups) and have to take what they give you. The near wing is wonderful and the BG is perfect, so this is still a pretty special
frame -- unless you're the vole!

[Joseph Przybyla]

Hi Jack, nice image of the owl. I agree with the previous comments and wonder if another go at processing might resolve some of them. You have a wonderful location, would love to see more. Thank you for sharing.

[Jack Backs]

I went back and looked at the raw file, the blacks around the eye are just that, black. I already lighten the face some and any more seemed start giving it an unnatural look. This is a pretty significant crop, +40 to 16.6mp.
I forgot to mention I used DxO PureRaw 2.

[dankearl]

I would be happy with the image as the mouse is the star....Nice light , great BG, a better HA and this would be a 10...

[arash_hazeghi]

mouse is a great bonus hear, especially with intact head, light was sweet even if the angle wasn't ideal and the BG is nice too. I agree with the points mentioned above, in particular the far wing which I wish was raised all the way up. the area around eye seems to be blocked by deep shade not sure if there is more details there in raw to recover?

TFS

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Jack ... a nice shot with the vole as a superb bonus .
Light does look nice and warm .
Would agree with the others about the choked dark face mask ... no wonder as the histogram is simply clipped on the left side , there could be no details viisible .

TFS Andreas

[Brian Sump]

Jack, I must say if I had even ONE shot at these guys I'd be stoked, let alone many in efforts to get one with dinner. So excellent job there!

Otherwise, won't repeat some good feedback above. Will say, though, I love how the eye pops!