glojo Loc: South Devon, England

Been listening to folks talking about taking pictures of an owl so here's my attempt:

glojo Loc: South Devon, England

Anyone know the species? :)

angler Loc: StHelens England

Cant tell you the species Glojo but they're very good shots.

Wizz Loc: Maryland, USA

Fantastic captures for your first attempt! I really like #1!

Blueduck Loc: Maryland

Can't tell you that for sure but , will ask, why are they in your in house?

glojo Loc: South Devon, England

They popped in for a flying visit but did not stay that long.

The pictures are taken from my bed although that larger bird is at the base of it. Having said that the picture of the really LARGE one is eleven years old and was very much taken with your 'pre digital' amateur camera.

One owl was not much bigger than a cricket ball but that other one had a wing span of all but 6ft.

azphotobug Loc: Scottsdale, Arizona

City Girl here. Why would a wild owl fly into your house? How?

srazefes Loc: Fortt Collins, CO

Hi, nice pictures, I believe the third owl is an Euasian Eagle Owl, the little grey might be a Boreal, or in the states he could be a western screech? Not sure what species you have there.

glojo Loc: South Devon, England

Well spotted..

The large bird is an Iranian Eagle Owl which I believe is possibly the same or VERY similar, a 6ft wing span which makes it BIG but when they fly you cannot hear anything. That bird flew up onto my bookcase :shock: and then glided down onto my legs. Its talons instantly punctured the leg but it then moved off and nestled down beside me. What an experience.

The tiny bird which does not look that small in the picture is actually a Little owl and when fully grown reaches the dizzy height of 9 = 11inches but that is definitely stretching things as this one at one stage was cupped in just one hand and was DEFINITELY no taller than 6 inches.

Why are they indoors?
I cannot get out to their location so as the saying goes....

If Mohammed cannot go to the mountain
The mountain must go to Mohammed

I am EXTREMELY lucky\privileged to see these birds although the Eagle Owl picture was taken many, many years ago. (way before the Digital express came to town) My very old and very basic 35mm camera.

The Little Owl popped in yesterday and if you look closely at the Little Owl you can see the down of this young bird. It is only just getting its adult plumage.

Unfortunately the quality of pictures is poor... so they lack definition but in my defence.... I had a very good friend visiting me and they wanted to look at my camera and whilst looking at it they accidentally altered the exposure values setting and unbeknown to me it was shooting at -2 EV and boy that hurt!! I saw that the images were dark so increased the ISO as I was in a hurry to take my pictures before the bird got too nervous. I thought by putting more light into the camera it would 'lighten' my shots but that exposure setting which I never touch had the last laugh. :(

srazefes Loc: Fortt Collins, CO

Yes it is a privilege - I volunteer for Rocky Mountain Raptor Program where we rehabilitate raptors and the permanently disabled are trained and used for educational ambassadors. The "Little Owl", pictured in the bird book I picked up in Ireland, looks very similar to our Burrowing Owl.

mafadecay Loc: Wales UK

Not sure what species but I do love owls! Pic 2 is more isolated so in a way i prefer that one but would have loved to of seen pic 1 against a black background. The window and plant are a little distracting. Superb shots though well done.

If you get another chance maybe drape a dark sheet in behind some 3-4 stops lower then the owl to make complete black. The owl would look like its jumping out at you then.

Or if you got off camera flash and the owl doesn't mind. Close the blinds and go manual say ISO 100, 250th second around f5.6-f11 (trial and error until complete black)
shoot first without flash to see if total black image then fire a flash from the side illuminating the subject but not the background.

Food for thought if you get another go.

glojo Loc: South Devon, England

:thumbup:

The Eagle Owl is stood on a speaker case at the foot of my bed and sadly we could not blank out my only window (this was our old house) That 'blue bar' is part of a huge hydralic ram that lowers my room to ground level so blanking things out would be a huge 'no, no' :). The picture is from a 35mm negative shot by a VERY basic film camera. The pictures are definitely more of a keepsake than posed pictures but I take your excellent points in the spirit they were meant so a big thank you.

glojo Loc: South Devon, England

Looking through my files I did have a head and shoulder shot which following the observations of mafadecay I have attempted to black out the light sources.

To all those that feel this image is burnt out then YES it is plus scanning the 35mm negative with my old scanner also did not help. Bottom line is that is was a very cheap 35mm camera that was bought purely for taking holiday snaps :)

photophile Loc: Lakewood, Ohio, USA

I loved the owl photos, especially the first two. I once had the great opportunity to hold a saw-whet owl on my hand for a good while,they are very small adorable owls.

glojo Loc: South Devon, England

It is certainly an amazing experience and I was just so surprised at how light they are and this specific species does hunt in both daytime and night.