You Woke Me Up For Paparazzi?

[Marina Scarr]

The night before this image was taken, I checked out the cavity for owlets since it had been a couple of weeks. Sure enough there was one owlet at the mouth of the cavity. This is the scene I encountered the next morning. Love seeing owlet #2 making its first appearance, trying to squeeze past its older and larger sibling, only to witness a bunch of excited nature photographers.

This was photographed from the back of a pick up truck. My 1.4 TC was broken and my only choices were straight 500L or 1000mm with the 2.0 TC. I went with the tighter view so there is only a minimal crop.

Thanks in advance for looking and please feel free to provide comments and critiques.

Canon 1D4, Canon 500L & 2.0 TC
F11, 1/100sec, ISO 1000 manual mode
Fill flash with better beamer
Feisol tripod, Jobu head

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Marina, good choice on going in tight, as you achieve a natural comp focussing on the chicks. I like the fuzzy detail, good eye contact from both chicks, and the little one trying to peer through puts this over the top.

[Daniel Cadieux]

ha ha, just the one owl would have been good enough, but the second peeking up makes this a priceless image! The side lighting works well. A huge smile maker for sure!

[keith mitchell]

Hi Marina, agree with Daniel it's priceless.

Keith.

[Binu John]

What a cute shot! Lovely exposure, composition and feather details! Well done!

[Diane Miller]

I had to look twice to see the second owl -- how wonderfully cute! This was one where going tight was a great choice. I'm speechless as to suggestions for improvement.

You've done some amazing owls. Hope you'll keep them coming!

[John Robinson]

Cute factor indeed Marina.. My only small nit would be tp tone down the pale area behind the large birds head. No big deal though.Certainly a winner.
Rocks my boat as they say.
John

[Doug Brown]

You are without a doubt the nesting owl queen! Another priceless image Marina! Nice use of fill to balance out the side lighting.

[David Salem]

The owlet on it's own looks great but the sibling poking it's head out is priceless. What a great frame Marina. Doug is right, you are the queen of these shots! See ya soon.