Barn Owl

[Tony House]

One of my favourite birds to watch and photograph..... :)

Techs: 1/4000 @ F6.3 EC-1 ISO 200
1DMK11 N 600F4 1.4XTC Tripod @ Gimbal head.

Thanks for looking.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I like the pose, angle and BG. You handled the harsh light well. I'm not too familiar with the species, does the face plumage look grayish or should it be a bit whiter?

[Don Lacy]

Wonderful pose and BG, well done,

[Tony House]

Hi Axel, yes they are white although you can get some with darker faces. They have many disc of feathers layered on their faces which is all to do with their hearing, I think all the fine feathers cause slight shadows which can make it look slighty grayish.

Tony

[Tony House]

Here's an image of the same Owl taken just after my oringinal posting, he landed very close by and gave me a nice stare down the lens, you can see the disc's on the edge of his face.

Tony

[Fabs Forns]

Gorgeous bird, we had some for a while in the Everglades, not sure they are still there. Nice background. I'd lighten the face a bit, it seems the pose accentuated the grayish peach fuzz in the face.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Hi Axel, yes they are white although you can get some with darker faces. They have many disc of feathers layered on their faces which is all to do with their hearing, I think all the fine feathers cause slight shadows which can make it look slighty grayish.

Tony

Thanks for the explanation, Tony! Great to have such a cooperative model.

[Randy Stout]

Tony:

Lovely bird. Great colors and presence. If you have a series of these, it might make a great portfolio.

Was this a wild bird? I grew up in Iowa, midwest, lots of farms, and we would seem them, but never this close or cooperative.

Please share anymore you have.

Randy

[Ilija Dukovski]

Great job, great whites on the bird.
I like it a lot!

[Stu Bowie]

Tony, which image do you you want me to comment on. LOL. With regards to your original image, I like the comp, and flying posture of the owl. He also stands out very well against the BG.

Your second image showing his colours, well, what incredible eye contact.

[Dave Barnes]

Very nice capture Tony. I like the angle of flight, wing detail and colour. The greenish brown OOFBG works well.

[Tony House]

Thanks for the kind comments everyone...

Hi Randy, yes this is a wild bird, I never work with captive birds although sometimes it would be easier to get the perched shots with captive ones. This bird was a very obliging, wish they were all like him...

Thanks.
Tony