Owl Love
A black and white photograph of a Great Grey Owl.
A black and white photograph of a Great Grey Owl.
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Aug, 2014Views
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Awards
Top Shot Award 22
Lucky 3 Award
Contest Finalist in Monochrome Macro Photo Contest
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Contest Finalist in Eagles Or Owls Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Feathers In Black And White Photo Contest
Peer Award
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Absolute Masterpiece
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AvidPhotographer
May 06, 2015
This looks so natural. I love owls and u definitely got my eyes on this one. Great job!
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken at the Owl and Small Breeds Centre at Kington near Leominster.Time
This image was taken at 13.50 in the afternoon. It was my first visit to the Owl and Small Breeds Centre which has a superb range of captive owls, helping to preserve different species. The owl in the photograph was housed in an enclosure surrounded by wire mesh which proved a challenge when trying to focus the camera on the owl.Lighting
The enclosure that housed the owl was part of a complex of enclosures which did cut out some natural light. However by increasing the ISO to 800 I was able to capture the shot without the use of flash.Equipment
The shot was taken with my Canon 5D mkIII fitted with a Tamron 70 -300mm lens set at 300mm. I no longer have the Tamron lens but use a Sigma 150 - 600mm lens instead.Inspiration
I visited the Owl Centre with the intention of taking close-up shots of the captive Owls because I have an interest and love of Owls.Editing
I photographed the Owls in colour to capture as much tonal detail as possible and I decided to convert this shot to black and white as I felt that it would suit the subject. I shoot in RAW to give myself as much control as possible over the processing allowing me to achieve the look I want.In my camera bag
My Canon 5D mkIII is always the first thing in my camera bag. I love this camera and get a lot of pleasure from using it. If I am photographing wildlife then my Sigma 150 - 600mm lens will go in. I also carry a Canon 100mm Macro prime lens, a Canon 85mm prime lens and a Canon 50mm prime lens. I will also take a tripod or monopod depending on the shoot.Feedback
When photographing captive owls then more often than not I will have to take the shot through the gaps in the wire mesh of their enclosures. Finding a good position to avoid the lens being at an angle to the mesh is important. If the lens is at an angle then the mesh may appear as a blurred line which can spoil the photo. Placing the lens hood flat against the mesh will help to line up the shot. If the auto focus is hunting or not focusing where required then I switch to manual focus. I like to use a wide aperture to throw as much background as possible out of focus. Capturing a frame filling shot will also help to avoid any confusing background detail so where possible I like to use a large zoom to get in as close as possible. It is not always necessary to have the whole owl in the frame as focusing on the eyes and framing just the head or maybe head and half the body can result in a good shot.
