Eastern Screech Owl
Eastern Screech Owl with a crab apple stuck on his beak. This was taken during a photo workshop at the Howell Nature Center. He eventually shook off the crab ...
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Eastern Screech Owl with a crab apple stuck on his beak. This was taken during a photo workshop at the Howell Nature Center. He eventually shook off the crab apple.
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Apr, 2017Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This was taken during a Birds of Prey Workshop at the Howell Nature Center in Howell, MichiganTime
The photo was taken at 2pm in February 2017.Lighting
Lighting was all natural light. The perch was setup to take advantage of the sun and shield the bird from it's direct rays. He was perched in small clearing among a small group of trees which provided a bit of shade.Equipment
I shot this with a Nikon D800 and Nikon 80-400mm f4.5-5.6 lens at 400mm. I used a Benro tripod with ball head. Before shooting I set a custom white balance with a foldable gray target. I metered the light using a Sekonic L-858-D-u as incident light.Inspiration
The bird had been rather quiet on his perch for quite a while. The he began to fidget and tried to eat one of the berries. When he did this the berry got caught on the tip of his beak. This made for a more interesting photo than the Owl just sitting there.Editing
I completed the basic processing in Light Room. I usually apply a camera color calibrated profile first. Then adjust the exposure, contrast, highlight, black and white point. I then add a bit of clarity and saturation. I do this using a custom preset which also adjusts the contrast and applies a bit of sharpening. I completed the edit by cropping slightly and using Photoshop to remove the Jess's from around his legs by using the spot healing tool and cloning the areas affected.In my camera bag
My camera bag is always packed according to the type of shooting I will do that day. In addition to the equipment mentioned above I also carried my Nikon 24-70mm f2.8 lens and 70-200mm f4 lens. I used a Vello Freewave remote release to avoid camera shake on the tripod. Since taking this photo, I have also used the Nikon D850 and my latest is the Z7II. I also acquired the Sigma 150-600mm Contemporary with the 1.4X Teleconverter. This is a great lens for photographing birds.Feedback
This was a very sharp image because it was taken in a controlled environment. You can come close to these results if you setup a blind and your camera near a feeder or perch and encourage the birds to visit. You may look for other Nature Centers or Wildlife Rescue Centers who may also offer similar programs to photograph their current residents.
