johncarney_9721

Eastern Screech Owl

This owl lives in a nearby park and it’s taken about a year to get a good shot.

This owl lives in a nearby park and it’s taken about a year to get a good shot.
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Canon EOS 80D

settings

Aperture f/6.3 ISO 800 Shutter 1/30 Focal Length 300/1

location

Port Charlotte, Florida, US

upload_date

Apr, 2019

Views

Likes

Awards

Action Award

Chatter Award

Spring 21 Award

Legendary Award

Summer 2020

Judge Favorite

2020 Choice Award

Hero Award

Top Shot Award

Celebrity Award

Top Choice

Outstanding Creativity

Superb Composition

Peer Award

Absolute Masterpiece

Top Ranks

Top 20 rank

Top 20 rank week 1

Top 30 rank

Top 20 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

Behind The Lens

Location

This was taken in Port Charlotte, Florida. This owl’s nesting tree has since fallen and I’ve been unable to relocate it year.

Time

Late afternoon

Lighting

The owl was perched deep in a bush in heavy shadow. Luckily, owls often behave much like statues, so lower shutter speeds were possible.

Equipment

Canon EOS 80D, Tamron SP 70-300mm lens @ 200mm

Inspiration

I had not been able to get a shot of the entire owl up to that point. I had a few shots of the owl’s face peering out of the tree cavity. This was across from the tree and I could see and photograph the entire owl instead of just its face.

Editing

Yes. Noise reduction, sharpening, contrast, and removed a slight green color cast from all of the leaves. Nothing added or removed from the photo.

In my camera bag

Canon EOS 80D Tamron SP 70-300mm f/4-5.6 lens Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens Canon 24mm f/2.8 lens Cheap tripod Wimberly Gimbal Head I shoot mostly hand held and use the tripod in low light or for the occasional landscape. I’ve found the gimbal head to be surprisingly useful for landscapes and need a sturdier tripod to take full advantage of the gimbal for birds in flight and so forth.

Feedback

The hard part is finding any animal. Then arriving when it’s home. The best advice I have is to know an area like the back of your hand. Know where to look for what you want to shoot. It’s often the biggest challenge in wildlife photography. But a little research and scouting can go a long way and save a lot of time in the long run. Try going for a hike with just your phone to photograph or note promising sites. Go home, choose a site, and plan your shoot. I need to do this more often. I’m spoiled in Florida because I always have something to shoot. But even so, planning a bit gives me better shots. I practice this well for landscapes. Not so much for wildlife. Something to work on.

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johncarney_9721

johncarney_9721

Eastern Screech Owl

This owl lives in a nearby park and it’s taken about a year to get a good shot.

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow johncarney_9721

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