Spent a few days with this beautiful female Snowy Owl (which is/was an extreme rarity in Missouri). I found her the first day and observed her at a distance and then went and tried to obtain permission from land owners to gain access to the fields she was hunting in. To my delight, NOT ONE landowner denied me access to their property. I was given total access as long as I was photographing the "white Owl" and invited to come back anytime to do so.
She was very reliable and I just had to set up and wait and she would hunt right by me. At no time did I bait her, these are natural shots of her doing what she wanted to do. I was set up and she came right in and landed and gave me lots of time to get super tight shots of her. I could not believe it. Minutes after this...she closed her eyes and went to sleep! I was about 25 feet away. In my total excitement, I forgot to run through the basics and get some shots, stop down, get some more, stop down, etc... I shot most of the super close shots at wide open :oops: , but it did render the woods behind her nicely.
D300, 600VR, f/4, ISO 400, 1/3200, +.7EV
Hope you enjoyed and as always C&C welcomed and encouraged.
Jason
Love the feather detail and portrait. Certainly like to see other shots on this encounter. Flight ,etc ?
Just for fun may have played with the background appearance-lighter ?darker? ,etc
Lucky you! I enjoyed your text, and really felt your excitement:). I think the image looks good even though you forgot to stop down. Everything that should be sharp is (luckily owls have rather flat faces!). I love the little feathers protecting the bill, and the ones sticking out on either sides of the head. Comp-wise I'd prefer a bit looser vertical with more of the body showing.
Excellent portrait. Wide open doesn't bother me at all with this image. As Joe said above, a true rarity to get this close and even more rare that it is so far south given what is the norm. Please share more, and also consider speaking with a local ornithologist about this sighting.
Jason, thx for sharing the story. This is awesome. Loved the details and those eyes stand out so well. I like tight portrait crops a lot....a beauty, this one is.
Snowy Owl
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