Little Owl in flight

[Austin Thomas]

Here is another from my recent project on Little Owls.

If you have ever seen these birds in flight then you will be aware that they often fly just a few centimetres above the ground. When I first discovered them they quite literally appeared to “vanish”. I would see one on top of a telegraph pole, blink, and then it was nowhere to be seen. A few seconds later, as if by magic, it just appeared on the next telegraph pole. What actually happens is that the bird vertically dives off the first pole , flies low and parallel to the ground to the base of the next pole then at the last minute heads skyward to the top of the pole.

To get any natural light underneath the Owls wings I had to take this image when the sun was just about to disappear below the horizon.

There are more images from this project HERE (http://www.austin-thomas.co.uk/blog/?m=201106) for those that are interested.

C&C welcome.

Canon 1DMK4, 800mm, f6.3, 1/1600, ISO1600

Cheers

Austin

[Aidan Briggs]

This is amazing Austin! The great light, pose, and extreme low angle are all perfect. This is a very difficult shot and you pulled it off perfectly.

[Lorant Voros]

Awesome and cool. The low angle makes it very different than the normal BIF pictures. I'd love to see how you did it.

Lorant

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Austin, stunning shot. Low angle and the light make all the difference. Excellent BG and head on angle. Techs are perfect for the execution of this. Very well done and thx for sharing.

[MohsenVahedipour]

Excellent low angle with great details. Perfect flight shot. Thanks for sharing.

[Paul Randall]

This is fantastic Austin!! The two differing pupil dilations look a bit odd but not something I would tinker with I think. You could perhaps tone down/lessen the catchlight in the RHS eye but looks great as presented.:S3:

[arash_hazeghi]

Excellent,
The pupils are completely natural as one eye is in the sun and the other eye is in the shade, just like the aperture in a lens the pupils dilate according to light level and this photo actually shows this nicely.

Well done!

[christopher galeski]

nice low angle,like the lighting,good little owl flight pose,you must have been well hidden,good shot,thanks.

[Wynand van Wyk]

Wow, amazing captured! Absolutely love that angle and the light is fantastic! Truly a winner.

Stunning!:S3:

[Chris van Rooyen]

Its all been said, I can just add my congratulations:cheers:. Exceptional sharpness, especially at that shutter speed

[Austin Thomas]

Hi all, Many thanks for your comments and feedback. Much appreciated.

@Chris


Its all been said, I can just add my congratulations:cheers:. Exceptional sharpness, especially at that shutter speed

Thanks. Coming from a Master of bird photography, that means something. Regarding the s/s, it was a balance. I had pushed the ISO to 1600 which on my Canon is getting towards the limit. I had the camera/lens on a Skimmer + Wimberley directly on the floor, so as well supported as possible from an uncomfortable lying position!

Cheers

Austin

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Austin, Arash said exactly what I was going to mention - the light coming from our right shows exactly how the eyes work, and you have captured it perfectly. Love the low angle, sharpness, and that BG is just sweeeet. :w3

[Sachin Saraf]

Austin another great shot from you...First thing I noticed in this one is the diff in pupils and Arash has already put it precisely in his post..

thanks for sharing...

[Mitch Carucci]

As others have said, this is a superb pic. Light, sharpness and especially the expression are all perfect. Kudos on this wonderful image.

[Michael Lotito]

Looks great! I like how you got eye level with your subject.

[Karl Egressy]

Great incoming flight shot. Great sharpnes and I love the low angle.

[Nico Steenberg]

:eek: Great sharp detail and IQ. Like the LOW ANGLE FLIGHT. Subject is well exposed with good natural colours against a killer DOF. Well done !:cheers: