The Silent Hunter

[Doug Brown]

Great Gray Owls are incredibly quiet as they approach their prey. Here's a close-up of a GGO just before it strikes.

Canon 1Dx, 300mm f/2.8, f/7.1, 1/2500, ISO 800, manual exposure, hand held, baited

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Sweeeet shot Doug. Very effective crop and amazing details. Love those claws just ready to strike.

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Wow Doug, awesome detail, sharpness & comp. the forward directed talons take this image up further so do the eyes! Do you prefer the 300 2.8 over your 600 for BIFs? Was it baited? Thanks.

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Nice composition on this one. Love the tight crop, and especially enjoy the detail! The stare shows a great deal of concentration.

The white in the bottom left is just a tad distracting, but isn't something I would try to correct in post.

Miguel

[Doug Brown]

Hi Sanjeev. The owl was baited (I added that above). I use the 600 much more than the 300 for flight. To get birds large in the frame with a 300, they have to be close; as a result they move across your field of view much faster than they do when you're using a 600.

[Randy Stout]

Doug:

The intense stare, raised feet/talons, sharpness and in your face crop all work very well.

I am curious how fast of flyers they seemed to be? They look like they are optimized for stealth, not speed.

Cheers

Randy

[Karl Egressy]

Striking in flight portrait shot, Doug. The image portrays the intens concentration of the bird just before it strikes.

[Doug Brown]

I am curious how fast of flyers they seemed to be? They look like they are optimized for stealth, not speed.

They are not especially fast flyers, although they can move fast if they need to. Definitely built for stealth. They actually do a fair amount of their hunting for prey that is up to 1 foot under the snow; the owls have a keen sense of hearing. With prey hiding under the snow and unable to see the owls, silence is golden.

[dankearl]

Doug,
Very nice close up.
Since I doubt this was much of a crop, I think a very tight crop would look nice.
I would crop all the lower BG out, just face, a bit of wing and the feet.

[Petros Petrou]

This is an excellent image. I wouldn't change anything on that. Awesome detail. The talons and the bird's stare are scary! At least I am scared :-)
Congrats for this image!

[Robert Holguin]

Stunning image!!!
The comp here is superb.
Excellent details, very nice light, and love the clinched talons.
Very well done.

[Doug Brown]

Thank you all for the feedback!

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Amazing capture Doug. The detail is mindblowing and I love the tight intimate view!