with an optical illusion thrown in for good measure.
1/5000, f/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
Yesterday morning in northern Utah I spent some quality time with two owl species. This very calm adult Burrowing Owl was perched on an old metal fence post as it warmed in the rising sun and though it didn’t give me much pose variety just watching it through my lens was a treat.
When you’re photographing right at dawn light intensity changes very quickly which resulted in my somewhat excessive shutter speed and ISO setting for this image.
1/4000, f/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM , not baited, set up or called in
After getting quite a few images of the perched owl I removed my teleconverter so I’d be less likely to clip body parts if the bird chose to take off. Eventually it obliged me.
1/4000, f/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM , not baited, set up or called in
With the wings in this position I didn’t have enough depth of field to get them crisp but the rest of the bird is sharp.
While I was processing this image I noticed something that confused my eye at first. How could one of the flight feathers of the horizontally extended left wing possibly be in front of the chin of the owl? At first glance (and the second and the third…) that’s exactly what it looked like to me. But the next image in the series revealed what was really going on.
1/4000, f/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM , not baited, set up or called in
The color, shape and position of the left wing primaries matched those of the brown marking on the bird’s chin and that combination fooled my eye. With the wings in the up position reality became more clear.
I was pleasantly surprised to get two sharp shots of this bird after it left the perch. Burrowing Owls are so incredibly quick at takeoff that I’m usually lucky to get even one. In fact, this time I almost got three of them but I barely clipped some body parts in the third image of the burst.
Ron
Love, love, love the photos of the Burrowing Owl! I saw many of them from horseback while riding in the desert around Phoenix. Usually they were standing near their burrows or leading us away from them. Now, unfortunately much of their territory has been lost to development.
Beautiful photos as always. Thanks for sharing them. Glad you brought up the optical illusion in the third photo. I was a bit confused about it too. The fourth photo made me laugh. Ahh, a strip of brown throat feathers!
Miriam, I was so confused by that photo that even after some time of studying it I couldn’t figure out what was going on until I eventually looked at the next image. Once my mind’s eye has made an interpretation it takes convincing evidence to change it.
But then I’m known for my stubbornness at times…
When you bring up optical illusions, I usually go back to a previous photo. That helped me here because I could easily see the brown mark on the chin while the bird readied for take-off.
This works less well for field recollections without photos. Too bad we can’t make our mental images move in still shots.
Great shots, Ron! I especially like the second photo – the bird’s position seems improbable, even though I know it’s about to take off. It took me a while to see the optical illusion, but I did finally get it. Usually it’s hard for me to “unsee” the illusion. Go figure.
On a different note, this afternoon I got to see a Barn Swallow doing wing and leg stretches – first time I’ve ever been able to observe that behavior – and given the brevity of those actions, I gained even more respect for what you are able to capture with your camera.
Some interesting observations, Susan. I photographed Barn Swallows this morning too, as they were gathering mud for their nests.
Actually, stretches are some of the slower behaviors I photograph. This morning I was trying to capture the “wing flicks” of a perched meadowlark. Now that’s fast! Won’t know if I succeeded until I cull the images but I don’t have high hopes…
Wonderful shots Ron, thanks for sharing!
Chalrotte
Thank you, Charlotte.
Too many owls would be barely enough.
Colour me jealous. Again. I suspect the wind has changed and I am stuck there…
And thank you for sharing the magic. And the joy.
I’m glad you enjoyed the images, EC. Thank you.
Terrific shots, as usual (insert the ridiculously redundant Oh WOW! here)! Just love burrowing owls, and screech owls, and Great horned and oh never mind!
That image confused me at first, too, and my first thought was a molting feather. Then you explained 😉 I’m believing the molt will begin here, but so far, only the HAHA has dropped feathers. The girls are still pondering. SIGH!
I actually LIKE the unfocused wing feathers in the one takeoff shot. Shows the quick movement. But that’s me!
Laura, I agree that those blurry wings imply motion. Some folks like that effect and others not so much.
What wonderful images!!! Love the geometric angles in the first two, the focus of the eyes, feather patterns, and. flight positions and detail in all of them…I doubt if it’s even possible to take a “bad” image of a Burrowing owl…they ALWAYS make me smile or laugh out loud…usually the latter….
Believe me, Patty – I have gobs of bad images of burrowing owls. At least I did before I tossed them…
“Before I tossed them”….00000hhhh! Those words make me cringe! If you weren’t such a darned perfectionist, maybe I ‘d feel mote comfortable with those words, however…..
Believe me, Patty – garbage of all kinds needs to be tossed before it starts to smell up the house (or clutter up the hard drives…)
…and then there’s– “one man’s trash….” You know the rest…..
Some wonderful photos of my favorite owl, Ron!! Can’t blame you for watching this little guy thru your lens. Of all the owls, the Burrowing Owl has gobs of personality besides it’s beautiful feather coloring (Patty would describe it better – LOL!!)
I could watch them for hours through my lens, Jo Ann – especially the juveniles.
Love it!!!
I’m glad you like them, Carol. Thanks.
What a great launch sequence! One of the best ever…way to go!
Thank you, Jerry.
Beautiful! 🙂 That was a bit confusing at first! 🙂
“That was a bit confusing at first”
Boy, it was to me too at first, Judy.
I don’t think anyone does it better than you Ron. You always hit a home run. The level of detail captured is amazing.
I’ve struck more often than I can count, Zaphir. Or want to remember. It’s a good thing folks can only see my base hits on this blog…
Great take-off and flight shots and I love the smooth background.
Thanks, Dave. I wondered about that background, mostly because it matches the colors of the bird pretty well.