My First Burrowing Owl Flight

[laurie golden]

This may be one of this owl's first flights but it is my very first attempt at photographing them flying. I started the evening with Doug Brown's speed (1/3200) to get the wings sharp and by the time a few of them started flying I was way slower than I should have been. They flew in very short, erratic attempts to stay airborne and with 5 or 6 of them to watch it was not easy to get the shot, but fun so I will try again tonight.

Nikon D3S, 500mm f4, on a beanbag and panning plate from the car
ISO 1600, f4, 1/1000sec
Manual Exposure

[Arthur Morris]

I have seen lots of Burrowing Owls over the years but have only rarely seen any of them fly. How did it some to be that several were flying around at once??? Nice image, bird, and BKGR BTW with the chin of the bird a bit shaded.

[arash_hazeghi]

this is a very tough subject, I spent a whole two hours last week trying to get flight shots and it flew only 3 times and I got only one frame which I posted earlier. I do appreciate how hard it is...

I agree the BG is nice but I gotta say overall this one doesn't quite work for me as the critical focus was on the edge of the near wing and most of the bird falls outside DOF. Looks like you did try to sharpen the eye but the detail in the face is lacking. It might be due to processing as well.

I hope both you and myself can get better opportunities to photograph this handsome owl in flight! TFS, it's a really tough subject

[laurie golden]

Artie,

The owl was with his siblings and all were learning to fly and hunt together. On this evening there was a little wind that encouraged them to fly.

Arash,

I took another look at the original and do nt see that the face is soft. I did not sharpen the eye or face seperately - just my usual sharpen for the whole bird. I did do a noise reduction on the photo. I tried again tonight for more flying shots but the winds were light and from the wrong direction so no luck. Some opportunities are rare.

[thijs broekkamp]

What an amazing picture. Great soft light and sharpness, background is also very lovely.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Laurie. You were blessed. The image looks more than sharp enough for me.

[rajandesai]

Good to see different shots of burrowing owls. Love the diagonal placement of the bird. Nice background and looks sharp to me. Congrats for getting this shot.

[Doug Brown]

Burrowing Owls are difficult enough when shooting hand held. I couldn't imagine photographing them from a car! Love the BG and the eye. The owl could stand a bit more sharpening.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Beautiful BG with great colours, good gliding pose. I see what Arash means though, the fine detail on the head and body doesn not seem a sharp as the eye and leading edge of the wing. Kudos on the opportunity and photo!

[Robert Holguin]

Wonderful flight shot. I really like the flight pose, wonderful background, and very nice light.Well done.