Great Horned Owl - Bosque

[david cramer]

This owl remained on its perch the entire day, and only opened its eyes once when a large John Deere drove by. Heavy cloud coverage and low light conditions.

D300 with 300 2.8vr, handheld, f/3.5, 1/160, iso 400, ev +0.67, iso 400

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Great find, I like the soft light, eye contact and the not so steep angle. I find the bird a bit centered and might try a different crop.

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Very sharp with nice colours. Like the eye contact and feather detail.

[Allen Sparks]

wonderful shot. I like how the colors in the background kind of match the bird.

[Arthur Morris]

You are a lucky man. And you did well. Why handheld? How big a crop? I de-saturated and lightened the whole thing a very little and then lightened and saturated the yellow of the eyes. I like the SQ crop and the placement of the subject.

Was the bird photographable from the road? Where on the refuge?

All in all, fantastic.

[david cramer]

Comments much appreciated.

You are a lucky man. And you did well. Why handheld? How big a crop? I de-saturated and lightened the whole thing a very little and then lightened and saturated the yellow of the eyes. I like the SQ crop and the placement of the subject.

Was the bird photographable from the road? Where on the refuge?

All in all, fantastic.

It was perched on the east/west entrance road that cuts across the middle of Bosque, east of the Eagle Scout deck, on the north side of the road. A mini traffic jam was there all day, with one truck (possibly the original spotter?) in position and not moving. The rest of us slowly passed and took our shots. No one stepped out of their vehicles (although a few popped up through their sun roofs) out of fear of flushing it, since it was right on the road. This shot was taken just after the tractor passed it. Here's the original file:

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks for the info. I did finally upload my repost :)

I would have liked to have been there with my 800 on a BLUBB....

[Danny J Brown]

Hi David - A beautifully detailed GHO shot and you did a wonderful job on the optimization. Very nice.

[david cramer]

Artie - Thanks for the repost. I like the eye treatment. Would have been fun to have you there!

Here's a shot from the morning (original post is afternoon shot), with snow still on branches and a tiny eye peek.

D3 with 500vr on BLUBB, f/8, 1/500, iso 800, ev +0.33

[Stu Bowie]

Any owl image is a great sighting to me, and I like the detail and colours. The busy BG doesnt bother me in this. Well captured.

[Peter Farrell]

Fantastic image. The BG is busy but in this case, I think, adds to the overall compostion.
I actualy prefer the second one you posted with its eyes closed and the snow on the branches.
I am still waiting for my first Owl in the wild image.
Happy New Year
Peter

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

This owl remained on its perch the entire day, and only opened its eyes once when a large John Deere drove by. Heavy cloud coverage and low light conditions.

D300 with 300 2.8vr, handheld, f/3.5, 1/160, iso 400, ev +0.67, iso 400

An amazing owl, I want to see one!

But something even more amazing for me is that you shoot this image at f/3.5!!! and I can see the whole perch and tail in focus... Stunning image, thanks for sharing.

[Steve Large]

Hi David,
Nice clear detailed shot. Never stops amazing me when it comes to the different types of color morph these guys can have. This guy is almost white compared to the ones that I am used to up here in Canada. Nice job on showing the habitat and setting the mood with the branches in the BG etc.

Take care,

Steve