Low light Great Horned Owl.

[dankearl]

I stumbled upon this very cooperative young GHO yesterday, that allowed me a lot of time to try different
settings in very low light in the woods.
I shot from 1/200, iso1600 to 1/800, iso 6400 to try different Shutter speeds versus ISO combinations.
The best Owl encounter I have had since shooting Snowy's this winter.
I know that some would go home in low light like this, but the D800 really does open a new world!

1/400, ISO 3200, F6.3, 600MM, Handheld, D800, removed two small branches, two rounds of NR on BG only.

DSC_2159bp.jpg

[Randy Stout]

Dan:

This is very nice, I like the comp a lot, nice look back pose, pretty good detail retained in bird at this ISO without NR on the bird.

The ear tufts look just a bit soft, as if effected by the NR, but I haven't seen enough GHO up close to be certain.

I might try a version with the bright leaves on the left toned down just a bit.

Very nicely captured, good work trying all the options.

Cheers

Randy

[laurie golden]

Dan,

This is really nice composition. I am amazed that the owl and perch have so little noise at 3200 ISO and that you hand-held this shot. Did you try any with flash?

[dankearl]

Thanks Randy and Laurie.
Laurie, this is the Ridgefield Owlet born this spring, I am pretty sure.
It was along the creek near the nest.
Since you can get out of cars in the summer, I walked the road and very luckily came across it.
It was across the creek at eye level.
I don't use flash on birds anymore, you just get red eye which you can't make look natural and I don't like to get
flashed, so I think they might not.
I have a steady hand and can handhold the 300 at pretty low SS.
I will maybe post one at 1/200 that is pretty nice.
The Owls do hold still!
Randy, the "horns" always look like this, they are so fine feathered that they never look sharp.

[Steve Canuel]

Nice shot Dan. Love the look back pose, the BG, the moss covered branch, and the leaves poking in from the top left. A little hit with some USM set for contrast (25, 15, 0) gives the owl a little more "pop" without affecting the BG too much. Nicely done regardless.

[Robert Holguin]

Wow!!! Lovely owl. Excellent pose, very nice details for such a high iso, and I really like the perch.
Very well done.

[laurie golden]

Dan,

This must be a very big crop. I have not been to Ridgefield in a while, nice to see he is looking well. I love that nest site.

[dankearl]

Laurie, I was on the opposite bank, about a 50% crop of a full frame image.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Dan, love the soft light in this, and the Owl has given you a great look back pose. The moss covered perch really adds something extra, and amazing IQ for such a high ISO. Well captured.

[dankearl]

Since the best thing about this site is the education about photography and Laurie asked about the crop,
Here is the full frame non edited image, Raw converted to jpeg with only minimal sharpening for the web.
I think it would be a nice feature if the Raw images were always posted.
I realize that Professional Photographers might have a problem, but most of us do this as a hobby I believe.
Here is the out of camera RAW for your interest if you have any.

DSC_2159or.jpg

If you want to comment on the crop or the processing or anything else, I am happy to hear it.

[David Salem]

Great GHO shot. Like the looking back pose. Awesome ISO performance. Love the mossy perch too. Horns look soft for some reason.. I read your explanation. Very Well Done.

David

[arash_hazeghi]

very nice Dan. Great pose and excellent details and quality given the ISO. I like your crop because it has placed the perch diagonally. great job

[gail bisson]

I think I would have thought I had died and gone to heaven if I had an opportunity like this !
I like the pose , the diagonal tree branch, the moss, the BG.
I see a slight magenta cast to the feathers (easy fix).
Amazing low noise at this ISO.
Well done
Gail

[Melissa Groo]

Love this, Dan. Great job in that low light. I really like your comp. Wonderful perch, lookback pose, and sense of habitat.

[Marina Scarr]

Thank you for sharing your original, Dan. You must have spent some serious time on this image b/c it sure turned out well, esp considering your high ISO. Really like the pose and comp. Magenta cast already mentioned. I really like the environmental feel to this one and it would probably have looked quite good even without the clean up.

[Chris Kotze]

Beautiful pose and image, Technical s superbly handled

[Ofer Levy]

Sweet image!!

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the pose, perch, lighting and setting. Excellent image Dan.