Short-eared Owl - Right down the Pipe

[Jeff Dyck]

It has been a busy summer and I have to apologize for not having participated in the forum much lately.

Late August / Early September is a great time of year to photograph Short-eared Owls in the "Tall Grass Prairie" habitat at Oak Hammock Marsh (north of Winnipeg, Manitoba) - this particular evening we saw no fewer than a dozen Short-eared Owls out hunting in the last half-hour before sunset (often in groups of two or three). The young owls are very curious - often times, getting out the car and standing out in the open will result in close range fly-bys just so they can check you out!

Canon 1DIV -- Canon 800mm f/5.6 IS -- f/6.3 @ 1/1000s -- ISO400 -- Manual Exposure @ 0EV

[yogesh_puranik]

wow..this is terrific image loved the eye contact and overall frame

[Daniel Cadieux]

Cool! I love the yellow eyes matching the yellow flowers. The vertical comp works well too.

[Robert Holguin]

WoW!!!! This is a terrific shot. Love the colors, flight pose, and comp. Those eyes are just amazing.
Well done.

[Bob Dromgoole]

Yes, very lovely yellows and light on the bird.
Serene yet dramatic, a nice artistic tension.
I absolutely love it!

[Marina Scarr]

Really like the perspective here. The colors and light are very nice, and the yellow flowers really kick this one up a notch.

[Josh Clark]

Love the head on shot. Piercing yellow eyes go well with the golden rod below.

[Mital Patel]

Jeff,

this is beautiful incoming pose captured. Grassland feel is awesome and so the framing.
boosting up ISo to freeze such nice flying subjects may help freezing down well enough.

[Jonathan Ashton]

A very pleasing shot. I like the composition and the pose but I suspect this is a large crop and as a consequence there is not too much detail in the plumage (??)

[Herb Houghton]

Nice head on capture. I agree with most, the yellow foreground really adds punch to this shot.

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Love it. Your angle showing the flowers is great and pulls the yellows from the bird nicely

[Stu Bowie]

Love the eye contact Jeff, and I like the placement and overall comp. Im glad we can see the flowers in the FG. I hope you have a closer shot coming towards you. You do have one???

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Jeff, great frame....those flowers do add a lot. loved the head on angle and the shallow DOF effect.

agree with Mital that higher ISO and higher SS would have been better. A round of USM on the sharp part of the bird will help IMO.

[Arthur Morris]

Beautiful light, bird, pose, and superb image design though I'd love more flowers below for a true 3X2.