Short-eared owl

[Rich Steel]

Hi

Went out one afternoon this week to look for some SEOs. I found four of them hunting and generally putting on a great display. This was my favourite photo of the session and the last moments for another vole.



Taken with 1Dmk3 and 500mm lens at ISO400 F5 at 1/2500s.

Cheers

Rich

[Jim Poor]

Nice action captured here. The lighting ads some drama, being off angle. Maybe a bit of shadow highlight to brighten the darker wing a little?

I really like the intense look and the splayed tail. The position of the vertical wing bugs me a little. I wish it were turned just a hair one way or the other rather than facing us on a near razor edge. That is really minor in a great image though.

I like the added color of the dead stuff on the right and the way the left side balances it out.

[Arthur Morris]

Well done. Jim pretty much nailed everything. Where was the image made?

Later and love, artie

[John Cooper]

A great action capture Rich caught moments before the strike - you can almost feel the tension here!!
Only thing I would recommend is for some more shadow detail applied to the back of wings, as Jim has mentioned. But a dramatic capture!!

[Sid Garige]

I really like it. Kind of environmental and action shot. A complete story teller.

[Stephen Stephen]

Nice action image here Rich. I like the tension expressed in the stop-action pose.

This is an owl species I'm still looking to photograph.

[Glenn Bartley]

This is so cool. Great hunting pose!

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Great pose and habitat. I agree with the suggestions above.

[Grace Scalzo]

Just fantastic, Rich. Perfect timing on your part (and his).

[Raymond Barlow]

great action well captured!

[Rich Steel]

Thanks for the replies and comments. The image was taken on some undeveloped plots of an industrial estate in North Wales. Hopefully they will remained undeveloped as the owls are much more attractive than warehouses!!! I will be trying to fit in a return visit before the owls disperse to upland areas for breeding. I only had about an hour shooting time on my last visit as I spent quite a long time working out the best approach which required completely different tactics to the previous year.

cheers

Rich

Cheers

Rich