Saw-whet Owl

Posted by Laura Stiefel on Sun Jan 18, 2004 9:13 pm

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D30, Canon 100-400IS @ f/5.6, 1/5 sec w/ self timer, ISO 200, flash @ -2

A great big thanks to Brian Zwiebel for not only telling me where to find this gem but also for the incredibly generous loan of his 100-400mm lens while my lens is being repaired. I can't thank you enough.

I spent a large part of today with this small owl in Southeast Michigan. I'm not thrilled with the oof foreground but I was shooting in rather cramped space and couldn't find a better angle to shoot from (if only I were taller

). I'm consistently amazed by how tolerant these birds are of people. For most of the time today this little owl sat sleeping less than 10 feet in front of me. All comments and suggestions for improvement are greatly appreciated. Thanks for looking!

Laura Stiefel
[b]NSN 0229[/b]

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by AlexC on Sun Jan 18, 2004 10:08 pm

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Dear Laura:
Wonderful morsel that I wish to also meet one day, You have done what you could do, This is one crop option but not the only one crop wise!!, Nothing wrong with cropping for compositional considerations!!!
Lovely face and pretty good exposure!! Congrats!!!

[b]Alex Calzadilla[/b]
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by Wayne Nicholas on Sun Jan 18, 2004 10:26 pm

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Nice image, Laura. Very intimate feel to it. The light area in the lower 1/3 is only a minor distraction.

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by Jill on Sun Jan 18, 2004 10:41 pm

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Laura, Wonderful face and eyes!! I'd go along with Alex's repost.

If only I were along, you could have stood on my shoulders. We short folks must stick together!!

Jill Rosenfield

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by Matt Cox on Sun Jan 18, 2004 11:09 pm

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Very nice, Laura, especially at such a slow shutter speed! You composed this very nicely and caught a cute pose. Although sometimes using flash as main light and blacking out the background might make for an interesting shot, I doubt you had that option here given the foreground.

Matt Cox

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by Bill Whala on Mon Jan 19, 2004 12:13 am

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These owls are so cool. I just love them. This is really nice.

I like Alex's crop suggestion. Another alternative would be to add a vignette all the way around the owl using PhotoShop.

Bill Whala

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by KK Hui on Mon Jan 19, 2004 12:50 am

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Nice one, Laura!

Alex's suggested crop is a good one ...

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by Jim Neely on Mon Jan 19, 2004 6:14 am

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Very nice owl, Laura.

jn

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by Bruce DiVaccaro on Mon Jan 19, 2004 6:32 am

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Laura,

Very nice photograph. That face is priceless. Excellent technique at 1/5 to keep the image sharp and well exposed.

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by fredcor on Mon Jan 19, 2004 8:01 am

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Very nice capture. Your exposure with flash is great. If you don't like the FG use a 8x10 or 11x14 crop; as those are the sizes of prints anyway.

Frederick Lat Correa

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by E.J. Peiker on Mon Jan 19, 2004 9:29 am

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Very cool shot and I love Alex's crop suggestion.

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by Carol Clarke on Mon Jan 19, 2004 9:31 am

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Sweet image indeed Laura!! lovely face and wonderful expression.

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by Cliff Beittel on Mon Jan 19, 2004 1:25 pm

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Beautiful bird and very nice image as is. If you want more height, and the bird isn't too far from a road, you could take in a step ladder or (if there's a tree in the right place) a hunter's tree climbing ladder. You can lash or otherwise fasten a window mount on top a step ladder to hold the camera and lens. Getting a little higher and closer could give you Alex's crop without the crop

. But regardless of composition, it would minimize the OOF foreground. I'd try some at ISO 400 and f8, especially if you get closer. Or, with such a light background, you could try flash as your main light without letting the background go really dark.

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by Alan Murphy on Mon Jan 19, 2004 3:30 pm

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Laura, with photo ops like this, I would not have left until I found a way to get higher. Could you have shot from the roof of your car? As presented, the Owl looks great. I would crop most of the bottom branch.

Alan Murphy
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by Chip Estabrooks on Mon Jan 19, 2004 5:01 pm

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This is hum-dinger!
I'd love to have one of these guys.
Chip

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by Laura Stiefel on Mon Jan 19, 2004 7:09 pm

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Could you have shot from the roof of your car?

Hi Folks. Thank for the comments so far! Unfortunately there is no way to get a car back to this location. It's a relatively short hike through a fenced off park into a spruce grove... This little owl has been sitting in the same small (maybe 8 ft tall) spruce for the past two weeks. Although I did get shots with less oof forground and also some using flash as main light, you can be sure that I will be going back!

Laura Stiefel
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by Brian L. Zwiebel on Mon Jan 19, 2004 7:53 pm

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Laura Stiefel wrote:you can be sure that I will be going back!

And next time you have to take me!! I gave Laura the heads up on the bird based on a rare bird alert and loaned her the lens but she:

1) found the little guy despite vague and undiscernible directions

2) made a fantastic image, likely the best image ever made with my 100- 400!

Great job Laura, I love the warm browns tones of this bird!

BZ

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by John Fortner on Mon Jan 19, 2004 8:32 pm

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Nice one Laura. I like Alex's crop but I think just a little off the bottom to lessen the OOF stuff would work as well. By the way, be wary of lending BZ any of your stuff...

John Fortner

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by LHays on Mon Jan 19, 2004 9:58 pm

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Laura
An excellent shot....with some a lot of persistence. They are very sedate for the most part....but usually buried in the tree. I think you did a great job on this one.....and I can relate to being short.

Lana Hays
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by christoforos on Tue Jan 20, 2004 2:34 pm