Southern Boobook

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Another from my Good Friday series I posted a few months back and I am sure I never had this up. Australia's smallest owl species (Ninox boobook) was roosting in a huge hole in a eucalypt trunk about 8 feet off the ground. My friend dragged a huge log over for me to stand on (only raised me a foot) to get a slightly better angle and that made a difference. While I am not a fan of 2x with my 300mm f/4L lens, in some instances I will use it and also stack the 1.4x and 2x, like in this instance to get an intimate view.

30D, 300mm f/4L IS USM, stacked 2x+1.4x, (840mm FL), ISO800, f/16, 1/50th, tripod, manual mode, 430EX -2/3EC, beamer, and lots of steadying the slightly loosened ballhead. 80% of original. Hope you like it. Minimal NR only in ACR and I burnt the bright trunk fragment in the FG, which I could not eliminate at all. The tree was ravaged by bushfire some years back hence the charred look of the inside trunk.

[Connie Mier]

Akos, with all that stacking you managed a nice sharp image, super close up of a beautiful bird. Not bad for standing on a log too. I suppose if you cropped out some of the bottom the remaining fg log would probably look weird. As is, you did the best you could with it and it really does show the bird's habitat (inside a log).

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Just so you see the big picture, here is my "first insurance" shot when I discovered it roosting. About 20 meters away from me. Shows the scene well. No PP, SOC as is.

[arash_hazeghi]

Akos,
Sharpness is really good given the stacked converters and difficult conditions. the OOF pieces of trunk are a bit distracting, but at the same time they are an indication of habitat and where the specie roosts and it was beyond your control. Overall a beautiful image thanks for sharing.

[Colin Driscoll]

You are doing well with these owls Akos! Nice find and good shot in difficult conditions- massive stacking! A huge hollow for such a small bird.

[denise ippolito]

Akos, Great looking owl and Congrats on getting the shot. I like the image design and the way you have framed it. Great details esp. for the stacked converters.Nicely done.

[Raymond Barlow]

well done buddy, this bird looks much like our Saw-whet.

[Harshad Barve]

Akosbhai
VWD here , awesome sharpness with stacked TC
TFS

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Great job Akos.

Love the eyes and attitude of this little fellow. You did great with so many TC stacked.

[James Salywoda]

Super sweet Akos well done in getting this shot......

[Paul Randall]

Super shot mate. I know how hard these birds are to get a good photo of.
How did you get around the red eye that these birds give off with flash?
I seem to have a problem even when the flash is off camera.

[Stu Bowie]

Hey Bro, good job with both the stacked converters and flashwork. Comp works well, and I like the slightly tilted head. Nicely framed inside the tree. Well done mate.

[David Fletcher]

Super shot Akos. Done really well with the technicals and presentation. Good work Bud.

[Chris Kotze]

Super shot and well presented. Great work done

[Ramon M. Casares]

Not an easy situation, I would've gone with a wider F so to get the FG way more OOF.
Nice colors, detail and sharpness! Congratulaitons!

[Gerrie van Vuuren]

Great image! Well done on exposure with the stacked convertors.

[Simon Bennett]

Good job with a difficult situation.

[Lorant Voros]

Nice work, Akos and very nice species....hope you have some more of this for us to enjoy. You surely got some nice sharpness out of the stacked TC. Congrats.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Thanks guys for looking and the encouragement.

Paul, I painted over the pupil with a black brush and re-added the catchlight. You are right, it is impossible to avoid red eye with our Ninox genus owls.

Ramon,
I wish I could have less DOF, but stacked converters don't help good IQ, hence why I compromised and opted for f/16 to hopefully attain a bit better quality as opposed to f/11 wide open. I think the edge of the hollow being more OOF would be even more distracting than as is now. Thanks amigo. :)

[Kiran Poonacha]

I too just wanted to say beautifully done Bhai.. congrats..