Serendipity - it pays to always have your camera lying on the car seat beside you.
I went up to Lake Yates, Alabama, late yesterday afternoon (Feb. 16th) and on the way home at dusk, a great horned owl landed in a tree. I got a few hasty handheld shots with my Nikon D7200 out of the driver's side window of the car before the owl decided to fly away. I know these are grainy and not the clearest pictures because of the high ISO and the fairly extreme cropping, but I was thrilled to see this magnificent bird. Not only that, I was amazed how well (in my opinion) the shots turned out using the Nikon SB-500 Speedlight mounted in the camera's flash shoe. I eliminated the "redeye" using Photoshop Elements but I like the effect, so I included both the redeye version and the corrected version.
EXPOSURE DATA: F8, focal length 140 mm (maximum zoom), ISO 3200. Shutter speed and distance for the perched shots: 1/80 (no exposure compensation) at an estimated distance of 35 or 40 feet. For the inflight shot, the shutter speed was 1/60 second (again, no exp. comp.) at maybe 25-30 feet.
The red eyes certainly added a bright spot. I like the inflight one.
Great photos. Lake Yates, I don’t know where that is. I will look it up. Thanks for sharing.
It will ultimately land in the bird section... Where it belongs.
Jon Hornsby wrote:
I went up to Lake Yates, Alabama, late yesterday afternoon (Feb. 16th) and on the way home at dusk, a great horned owl landed in a tree. I got a few hasty handheld shots with my Nikon D7200 out of the driver's side window of the car before the owl decided to fly away. I know these are grainy and not the clearest pictures because of the high ISO and the fairly extreme cropping, but I was thrilled to see this magnificent bird. Not only that, I was amazed how well (in my opinion) the shots turned out using the Nikon SB-500 Speedlight mounted in the camera's flash shoe. I eliminated the "redeye" using Photoshop Elements but I like the effect, so I included both the redeye version and the corrected version.
EXPOSURE DATA: F8, focal length 140 mm (maximum zoom), ISO 3200. Shutter speed and distance for the perched shots: 1/80 (no exposure compensation) at an estimated distance of 35 or 40 feet. For the inflight shot, the shutter speed was 1/60 second (again, no exp. comp.) at maybe 25-30 feet.
I went up to Lake Yates, Alabama, late yesterday a... (
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Nice shots. They both came out very good especially for a grab and shoot moment.
Like that blue pattern/texture in the first one. Lucky catch see this one.
joecichjr
Loc: Chicago S. Suburbs, Illinois, USA
Jon Hornsby wrote:
I went up to Lake Yates, Alabama, late yesterday afternoon (Feb. 16th) and on the way home at dusk, a great horned owl landed in a tree. I got a few hasty handheld shots with my Nikon D7200 out of the driver's side window of the car before the owl decided to fly away. I know these are grainy and not the clearest pictures because of the high ISO and the fairly extreme cropping, but I was thrilled to see this magnificent bird. Not only that, I was amazed how well (in my opinion) the shots turned out using the Nikon SB-500 Speedlight mounted in the camera's flash shoe. I eliminated the "redeye" using Photoshop Elements but I like the effect, so I included both the redeye version and the corrected version.
EXPOSURE DATA: F8, focal length 140 mm (maximum zoom), ISO 3200. Shutter speed and distance for the perched shots: 1/80 (no exposure compensation) at an estimated distance of 35 or 40 feet. For the inflight shot, the shutter speed was 1/60 second (again, no exp. comp.) at maybe 25-30 feet.
I went up to Lake Yates, Alabama, late yesterday a... (
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The two of you sure had an eventful experience yielding wonderful results
Jon Hornsby wrote:
I went up to Lake Yates, Alabama, late yesterday afternoon (Feb. 16th) and on the way home at dusk, a great horned owl landed in a tree. I got a few hasty handheld shots with my Nikon D7200 out of the driver's side window of the car before the owl decided to fly away. I know these are grainy and not the clearest pictures because of the high ISO and the fairly extreme cropping, but I was thrilled to see this magnificent bird. Not only that, I was amazed how well (in my opinion) the shots turned out using the Nikon SB-500 Speedlight mounted in the camera's flash shoe. I eliminated the "redeye" using Photoshop Elements but I like the effect, so I included both the redeye version and the corrected version.
EXPOSURE DATA: F8, focal length 140 mm (maximum zoom), ISO 3200. Shutter speed and distance for the perched shots: 1/80 (no exposure compensation) at an estimated distance of 35 or 40 feet. For the inflight shot, the shutter speed was 1/60 second (again, no exp. comp.) at maybe 25-30 feet.
I went up to Lake Yates, Alabama, late yesterday a... (
show quote)
The red-eye shot gives the pic something special it's a hanger and a seller.
I returned to that spot yesterday, but of course, the owl wasn't there. However, I discovered much to my surprise that I was over twice as far away as I thought when I snapped those pictures. I was really IN THE MOMENT - it was a brief but intense encounter. The owl won't remember me, but I will always remember that encounter.
It is alway great to have a camera handy to capture serendipitous moments. In this case, I have heard from birding experts never to use flash on owls. It leave them blind. I hope that there is no permanent damage but I am not sure if anyone know or not. I am sure that you have experienced the discomfort of bright light after having your eyes dialated for an eye exam.
Thank you, KlorFotoBug. That did not occur to me at the time. If I did the wrong thing, I am truly sorry I can only offer after-the-fact apologies to all birders and to my uninteded victim, the owl. Hopefully, the fact that the owl flew away without smacking into a tree means its sight was not damaged. And yes, you are right -- I have experienced the stab of pain in bright light after an eye exam.
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