My First Barred Owl [Archive] - Canon Digital Photography Forums

Gary Fairhead

21st of March 2006 (Tue), 18:17

Thanks to Blackburnian for guiding me to this wonderful owl :D

The sky was unforgiving this morning...dull grey but I was smiling anyway when I saw this beauty.

The first shot is taken with the Canon 350 D and 200mm F2.8L. Taken at ISO 400 +2/3 exposure comp. at 1/640 sec at F2.8 Hand held....( should have stopped down to F4 at 1/320 sec for more DOF...oh well:rolleyes:

The second shot was taken with the Canon 30D and 400mm F5.6 with a Canon 1.4X TC ( F8 converted) for a 560mm reach. Taken at ISO 640 +2/3 exposure comp. at 1/160 sec at F8 with a Leitz monopod and Manfrotto 222 head.

Both shots are slighlty cropped at approx 15 %

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a300/g2a/More%20shots/Bar-yesprint.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a300/g2a/More%20shots/Barred-closeprint.jpg

clivingston

21st of March 2006 (Tue), 18:30

Outstanding shots Gary!!! The lighting might have been dull ,but the captures are perfect.The detail,color and compositon could not have been better.

Would you recommend the 222 head ? I am looking for something a little easier and faster to adjust.

dancad

21st of March 2006 (Tue), 19:07

Good ones Gary. I like the talon peeking through the cedar leaf on the first shot...adds a touch of yellow combined with the bill. The portrait is superb.

dancinec

21st of March 2006 (Tue), 19:10

Excellent Gary, what a beautiful shot of a gorgeous owl.

Blackburnian

21st of March 2006 (Tue), 19:15

Beauties!

Was sure fun this morning and even funner getting this fellow.

Here's my contribution to the thread...

Marc

swapnali

21st of March 2006 (Tue), 19:16

Great shots, I liked the second one. The reflections in owl's eye are great. and the feathers sharp. Great capture

RonnF

21st of March 2006 (Tue), 19:26

Great shots, Gary. Beautiful owl. I like both shots but am partial to the second. That's an in-your-face, count-every-thread-on-every-feather shot. Nice job.

Ron

reewik

21st of March 2006 (Tue), 19:53

Wonderful captures... Tough shot with the sky the way it was too... Great job for sure guys...

wolverinesr1

21st of March 2006 (Tue), 19:54

great shots gary. the second one is the winner for me

Gary Fairhead

21st of March 2006 (Tue), 20:17

Thank you Chris, Dan and Dennis for your very suppostive comments...much appreciated :D

Gary Fairhead

21st of March 2006 (Tue), 20:21

Beauties!

Was sure fun this morning and even funner getting this fellow.

Here's my contribution to the thread...

Marc

Well Marc, I doubt I would have found this beauty without you so I very much appreciate your expertise. It was fun and we should do it again on a blue sky day:cool: . Your shot looks great and I was wondering what she was looking at ?
See you in the field and thanks again.

JMAS

21st of March 2006 (Tue), 20:22

Gary, That close-up is simply awesome. Great shot.

Gary Fairhead

21st of March 2006 (Tue), 20:23

Thank you Swapnali, Eric and Jeff and Jaime...much appreciated:D

LabDan

21st of March 2006 (Tue), 20:28

You did it again , what a nice shot , so clean
it's always a pleasure to look a your pics ( both of you )
Dan and the family

Gary Fairhead

21st of March 2006 (Tue), 20:28

Great shots, Gary. Beautiful owl. I like both shots but am partial to the second. That's an in-your-face, count-every-thread-on-every-feather shot. Nice job.

Ron

Thanks Ron and I am so surprised with that second shot as its with the extender and if not for the monopod there is no way 1/160 of a second would have been enough with no IS. I cropped it and debated putting it here or not,,,I guess I will so here it is:D

Croped Portrait for eyes and face

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a300/g2a/More%20shots/Barred-closeprintcloser.jpg

Gary Fairhead

21st of March 2006 (Tue), 20:42

You did it again , what a nice shot , so clean
it's always a pleasure to look a your pics ( both of you )
Dan and the family

Thank you very much Dan for those very kind words:D and all my best to you and your family. See you in the field ;)

ZipDude66

21st of March 2006 (Tue), 21:30

Wayne Wood

21st of March 2006 (Tue), 22:12

ngannet

21st of March 2006 (Tue), 22:30

Holy christ! Awesome shots of one of my favorites. Excellent detail and those crops are amazing. How close were you to this bird?

Paul A

21st of March 2006 (Tue), 22:36

Excellent shots Gary, beautiful bird.

Gary Fairhead

22nd of March 2006 (Wed), 06:09

This is a great photo with the 400 5.6 and 1.4. To do this at 160 sec is amazing. Do you have any with just 400 5.6? I would have like to see a comparison. I have tried this combo many times even with a tripod and remote release and never come up with anything this good. Great job!

Zip

The following shot is with the 400 mm F5.6...there are some differences...the ISO on this shot was 250 with + 2/3 exp. comp.and the exposure was 100/sec ( slower) ...again with the monopod setup...wider angle so a little more environment in front of the owl. I took many shots with the combo and what I find is that its not consistent...possibly do to the manual focus.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a300/g2a/More%20shots/telephoto.jpg

busbyea

22nd of March 2006 (Wed), 09:20

Gary; Shots are spectacular !:D
Beautiful Specimen. 1st Shot : Nice environmental shot. Great lines, texture, contrast (the smooth, soft feathers & the roughness of the tree bark). The owl's markings show just HOW HARD it would be to detect.
2nd Shot : WOW ! :D Now that's a close up! Fine details show nicely throughout the face, reflection adds a mysterious look to the eyes, and beak adds a center of focus.
3rd Shot : Cropped Portrait...WOW WOW WOW !:D :D :D STANDOUT SHOT !
Well Done.

busbyea

22nd of March 2006 (Wed), 09:25

Marc; or should I call you "OWL MASTER"
You certainly have a knack to find these great creatures. Lovely pose; in a natural setting. Great looking detail in the facial disk. Nice reflection in those dark eyes. Well done...Boy I'm envious of you guys....:p :p :p

Beauties!

Was sure fun this morning and even funner getting this fellow.

Here's my contribution to the thread...

Marc

Stephen Stephen

22nd of March 2006 (Wed), 11:27

Congratulations Guys on these beautiful shots. I only have one blurry shot of this species that I took a couple of years ago.

Gary Fairhead

22nd of March 2006 (Wed), 18:51

Gary , Gary , Gary what the hell can one say about these images without sounding like a broken record,,, outstanding and superb roll right off the tongue,,,, Marc sure can find those owls as he demonstrated last weekend with the Great Horned Owl,,, awesome images guys my 200 2.8 is in so feel free to invite me on your next outing lol ;)

Thanks very much Wayne, and Marc is also good at finding other birders. I had no idea he was in the Clyde woods and at one time heard someone calling " Gary"...figured someone else in the woods had my name ...10 minutes later I was investigating some crows that were obviously very excited about a raptor/owl..and met up with Marc. He was there before me and saw my car as he was leaving , aksed another birder if he saw me ( he did) and tracked me down. What luck for me as Marc had already located the Barred Owl and showed me its location:D

Gary Fairhead

22nd of March 2006 (Wed), 19:08

Holy christ! Awesome shots of one of my favorites. Excellent detail and those crops are amazing. How close were you to this bird?

Thanks N and I have to say I am most pleased as this is the first time I have seen a Barred Owl and that in itself would have been awesome. But to see it and photograph it,,wow. The Owl was at a great angle but behind all kinds of branches so it was pretty hard to find a good angle. All of my shots have branches somewhere in front,,,,We were pretty close and I am gessing 25-35 feet from the tree ( closest ) plus the angle ( about 45 degrees). It appeared he/she was peocupied with quite a bit of noise from squirrels in an adjacent tree ( sounded like they were breaking branches??) and once in a while she would look up at crows flying over. The original portrait shot is a 10-15 percent crop on a 560mm shot and this was only possible because I could take the time to back off ( left my xtra gear 15 feet behind me) and get a converter on the camera as the owl was in no hurry to leave.

Gary Fairhead

22nd of March 2006 (Wed), 19:08

Excellent shots Gary, beautiful bird.

Thanks Paul:D

Gary Fairhead

22nd of March 2006 (Wed), 19:10

Gary Fairhead

22nd of March 2006 (Wed), 19:11

Congratulations Guys on these beautiful shots. I only have one blurry shot of this species that I took a couple of years ago.

Thanks Stephen ...hope to see you in the field soon. I don't think we have met up since the Great Grey about a month ago.

Blackburnian

22nd of March 2006 (Wed), 19:12

Hi Garry,

Here's a classic shot demonstrating the crows fearless mobbing techniques. And the other one is my another close up. I think next time in the woods on a grey day like the one we had, I'll expose up 2/3 as you did...your shots turned out absolutely stunning for the conditions we where faced with...and you better hide the 1.4x extender:lol:

Let's do it again soon!

Marc

Gary Fairhead

22nd of March 2006 (Wed), 21:00

Marc...I take it you took that shot with the crow earlier in the morning ?? ...as I did not witness this...the crow actually has a sinister look on his/her face ..Iam really quite amazed that it got this close...great behaviour shot. The second one is a beauty as well and I am please we got some reflection in the eyes :D

Blackburnian

23rd of March 2006 (Thu), 06:15

Yes, the picture with the crow was taken earlier before we met. The owl eventualy flew to another tree to get away from the decibel polution!

Marc

Marc...I take it you took that shot with the crow earlier in the morning ?? ...as I did not witness this...the crow actually has a sinister look on his/her face ..Iam really quite amazed that it got this close...great behaviour shot. The second one is a beauty as well and I am please we got some reflection in the eyes :D

Airedale1

23rd of March 2006 (Thu), 06:34

The second shot was taken with the Canon 30D and 400mm F5.6 with a Canon 1.4X TC ( F8 converted) for a 560mm reach.

Nice captures Gary, it must be very exciting to have a chance to capture that image in the wild. BTW, what does "FB converted" mean?

kr88

23rd of March 2006 (Thu), 06:49

Well done Gary. Both shots are good. The second really shines because of the facial expression and the ways the feathers form a nice frame around those eyes.

busbyea

23rd of March 2006 (Thu), 08:20

More fine examples.
I didn't realize JUST how close those crows would actually get.
Is the owl even concerned??

andydajo

23rd of March 2006 (Thu), 08:41

Great stuff gary, it must be nice to capture such creatures in their natural habitai, here in the Uk most birds like that are behind chicken wire:(

Blue Deuce

23rd of March 2006 (Thu), 09:12

I am in awe of the close up.

Stephen Stephen

23rd of March 2006 (Thu), 11:20

Nice behavioural shot with the crow Marc. I've never been to Clyde Woods even though they're relatively close to my home compared to you part of town.

busbyea

23rd of March 2006 (Thu), 12:16

Airedale1 Quote:
Originally Posted by Gary Fairhead
The second shot was taken with the Canon 30D and 400mm F5.6 with a Canon 1.4X TC ( F8 converted) for a 560mm reach.

Nice captures Gary, it must be very exciting to have a chance to capture that image in the wild. BTW, what does "FB converted" mean?

Paul : I do assume you made a typo.... It actually would represent the maximum f-stop of the lens with the addition of the converter.
ex: 400mm f5.6 + 1.4 X converter (Converter adds a f-stop) would result in a 560mm f8.0 "Effective" lens. Don't forget to add in another 1.6 X for the sensor. 896mm ! The old 35mm equivalent...:shock:

Dimitri_V

23rd of March 2006 (Thu), 12:39

both stunning Gary,awesome lenses.

dazzlebea

23rd of March 2006 (Thu), 14:44

I love, love, LOVE the crop. Gotta show it to my kids when they come home from school. Such detail and clarity! Doesn't hurt that the owl is just too cute for words. Perfect!

GyRob

23rd of March 2006 (Thu), 14:49

very nice makes me think you were in the tree with it :)
Rob.

mojo_uk

23rd of March 2006 (Thu), 15:53

Awesome photography Gary :) Like them all very much.

Gary Fairhead

23rd of March 2006 (Thu), 19:23

Thanks so much for looking and commenting to Paul, Keith, andydago, Blue,Dimitri, Bea, Rob and Mark...and another special thanks to Blackburnian without whose help I would likely not have had the opportunity to see and photograph this beautiful bird.

Here is one more... he/she was fluffed up while preening...again with the 1.4X and 400mm combo at F8 and at 160/sec with the monopod setup...ISO 640

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a300/g2a/Face2.jpg

PetKal

23rd of March 2006 (Thu), 21:04

Thanks so much for looking and commenting to Paul, Keith, andydago, Blue,Dimitri, Bea, Rob and Mark...and another special thanks to Blackburnian without whose help I would likely not have had the opportunity to see and photograph this beautiful bird.

Here is one more... he/she was fluffed up while preening...again with the 1.4X and 400mm combo at F8 and at 160/sec with the monopod setup...ISO 640

Gary, not bad at all for a novice user of the new camera and lens + a manually focused (?) 560 mm combo. :)

Gary Fairhead

24th of March 2006 (Fri), 05:54

Gary, not bad at all for a novice user of the new camera and lens + a manually focused (?) 560 mm combo. :)

Thanks Peter and yes...the second shot, and resulting crop at the bottom of page 1 as well as this one above were manually focused so I guess my eyeglass prescription is up to date :D For so many years I used manual focus that I find going back to it is not a big deal although the lens is different and I am still tweaking my technique with it. I missed some good shots of the bird yawning because I was not focused and I find that my results with the combination are not consistent and that inconsistency rises dramatically without the monopod set up. As I recall I did ask your advice on this lens and so I thank you for reccommending it...:D

And thank you to anyone else who looks and comments as it time to let this owl slip into the darkness ;)