A Eurasian eagle owl in flight. This photo was the official poster and brochure photo of Earth Day 2019, Selected as one of the top 12 photos of 2019 and selec...
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A Eurasian eagle owl in flight. This photo was the official poster and brochure photo of Earth Day 2019, Selected as one of the top 12 photos of 2019 and selected by a jury of 11 to be one of the month's photos on the 26 annual Tri M Graphics 2020 calendar. For the Earth Day ceremonies, it was blown up to 10 feet by 10 feet and used as the backdrop for the stage. In addition, I was just informed by ViewBug that the Elite award has been bestowed to the photo!
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Views
4844
Likes
Awards
Winner in Birds love Photo Challenge
Winner in owlsinflight Photo Challenge
Winner in Having Angel Wings Photo Challenge
Winner in PerfectPose Photo Challenge
People's Choice in Let's share a fifth Photo Challenge
People's Choice in Native Wildlife Photo Challenge
Elite
Peer Award
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Choice
Magnificent Capture
Superb Composition
Outstanding Creativity
All Star
Genius
Superior Skill
Virtuoso
Top Ranks
Categories
Skykink
September 21, 2021
Thanks, Earth Day paid me to use it for their official poster and brochure photo and it was published in a hardback book of the top 12 photos of 2019! Very lucky shot.
ronalddailey
November 21, 2023
Amazing shot - this is nature at its finest - as a photographer we dream of getting a photograph of a bird of prey in flight - yet alone coming right at you - this owl exemplifies your hard work and dedication of being the very best you can be at taking pictures of wildlife - I've added this to my private animal collection of were only the best of the best will be there - congrats
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Behind The Lens
Location
The photo was taken at the Boyd Hill Nature Preserve in St. Petersburg, FL during their annual raptor festTime
The photo was taken in the morning during the live show showing trained raptors in flight, etc.Lighting
The skies were beautiful that morning with an interesting coloration of both the skies and the sun shining on the few clouds.Equipment
The photo was shot withB a Canon 7D Mark II and a Canon 100-400mm L series lens - handheldInspiration
I'm an avid nature photographer. Being a retired airline pilot and avid skydiver, I lean towards anything with wings, and raptors are my favorite subject within the world of winged creatures. Some interesting things about this photo - it was chosen by Adorama, one of the largest purveyors of photo equipment in the USA, as one of the top 12 photos of 2018. It was published in a hard back book entitled "Best Shots of 2018," along with the other 11 selectees. It was also selected as the 2019 Earth Day poster and brochure official photo. It was blown up to a size of 10' x 10' as a back drop for the stage for the day's ceremonies. It was also selected as one of the shots of a major calendar for 2019. I was able to get a fascinating sequence as this owl flew towards me including one shot that is probably my most popular photo here on ViewBug!Editing
Basically just converting from RAW to JPEG and optimizing the photo during normal processing.In my camera bag
I almost always hand carry a camera with a 100-400 mm lens. My current hand carry rig is a Sony A9 II with a Sony 100-400 GM lens with 1.4x extender.Feedback
Now the habits of your target photos and be ready for action. I always walk around with my camera set at least 1600th of a second with the max aperture available so I am immediately ready for an action/in flight shot. I have found that I get better results when I turn off the lens stabilization when I am anticipating an action shot. If you are set at the proper speed, you don't need it, and I think you can acquire your target faster.