Barn Owl Hunting
Lovely afternoon spent photographing wild barn owls hunting in the winter sun
Lovely afternoon spent photographing wild barn owls hunting in the winter sun
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Mar, 2015Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken on a public common in Hampshire England. For the sake of the barn owls it's exact location shouldn't be publicised.Time
The photo was taken just before 2.00pm in late January.Lighting
Although you think of owls as birds of the night, barn owls in particular need to hunt during the day in winter. The voles they hunt are less active in the cold nights and if it's raining they can't fly because their feathers get waterlogged. So on a sunny afternoon in winter when the sun is still pretty low barn owls are a beautiful sight to behold and a great photography subject. Their backlit feathers glow when they are hovering.Equipment
Canon EOS 60D, Canon 400mm f2.8, tripod and gimbal headInspiration
Anybody would be inspired to take these photographs if they ever saw a barn owls hunting in that light.Editing
Not much post processing requiredIn my camera bag
Depends on my shoot but for a wildlife shoot there is always the 400mm f2.8. canon EOS 5D mkII and EOS 60D. I take extension tubes for butterflies, dragonflies, hornets and snakes and various lenses for landscape. Often a wildlife shoot turn into a landscape shoot when the wildlife is uncooperative.Feedback
The best advice is to tap into the local bird watchers forums to hear about local sightings. Learn your subject and the location. After the first few efforts you will get good photos. After that it's not worth repeating more of the same so watch the weather forecast and just simply go when the conditions are perfect. Hovering birds fly into the wind so if you want their faces front lit (or backs backlit) you need the wind blowing away from the sun. If you want their faces towards you but their feathers backlit you need the wind blowing towards the sun.
