Barn Owl

[Moey]

This one is from yesterday. Please feel free to comment/critique .. .. I've done some editing, but to me, it still looks flat and not very sharp. Or is it my eyes?

 

[Kodiak Qc]

Or is it my eyes?

•


… then, mine too!

Check out for the next time… this
was just a warm up. Keep rocking!

 

[Ben Hur]

Does it have to be pin sharp? You've captured a barn owl looking at you, in less than brilliant light, its a very nice image.

 

[keenan]

Does it have to be pin sharp? You've captured a barn owl looking at you, in less than brilliant light, its a very nice image.

Agree with this..

It's a lovely shot, but the little peek at you makes it special as well!

 

[htid]

Is that the full size of the image or a crop? What lens is it? Agreed that it's not super sharp but generally at that time of day in the light you had, it'd be hard to get it pin sharp unless you ramp up the ISO to get the shutter speeds.

 

[gramps]

It's great to get it looking at you like that ... in answer to the question "does it have to be pin sharp?", well no it doesn't for a 'record' shot but it does really need to be sharp for a good shot. This particular image was shot at 1/1600th & f7.1 so in theory it should have been sharp but ISO was at 5000 and if that was at a large crop (as indicated by the noise) then that could indicate why it isn't, otherwise it's just another case of missed focus that we all experience.
Having said that, every Barn Owl shot is okay by me

 

[Phil-D]

It doesn't look pin sharp to me and I find the low half of the bg very distracting, . I can't see the exif, I'm presuming Roger @gramps has an exif reader app?, but you could have saved a stop on the ISO with settings of 1000th, f6.3, bring the ISO down to 2500 which should be ok for an owl in flight........ that's the crit out of the way

I haven't got any Barn Owl shots in flight, just a couple of record shots of two perched,( its all Shorties and Loe's round by me), so if it was my first Barn Owl shot in flight, with great eye contact like yours above, I would be very happy with it as a record shot

As kodiak has said above, if its local keep at it , you may well end up with some absolutely cracking shot

 

[gramps]

I'm presuming gramps has an exif reader app?

Correct, there are a number of browser exif readers available ... I use Exify for Firefox mostly

 

[Phil-D]

Correct, there are a number of browser exif readers available ... I use Exify for Firefox mostly

Just added it to Firefox, works a treat Roger, cheers .......its amazing how many actually hide the exif though

Sorry for the thread derail Moey

 

[Moey]

•


… then, mine too!

Check out for the next time… this
was just a warm up. Keep rocking!

Thanks Kodiak, at least I can save on opticians fees

Does it have to be pin sharp? You've captured a barn owl looking at you, in less than brilliant light, its a very nice image.

Thanks Ben Hur .. .. wanted it to be pin sharp, or at least sharp .. . but I was disappointed that it turned out like this. You're right, the light wasn't great and although I was happy that I caught it looking at me, if it was sharp, I'd have been chuffed.

Agree with this..

It's a lovely shot, but the little peek at you makes it special as well!

Thanks Keenan, this was the second shot from a continuous burst. The first shot caught it's attention, the second caught it's wing in the upright position whilst it was still peeking.. ..

Is that the full size of the image or a crop? What lens is it? Agreed that it's not super sharp but generally at that time of day in the light you had, it'd be hard to get it pin sharp unless you ramp up the ISO to get the shutter speeds.

I cropped in a little, it's not a massive crop. The lens is a Sigma 150-500mm at around 450mm i think. The ISO was on auto and i had the shutter at a fast enough speed to be able to catch it sharp. But the ISO maybe had a detrimental effect . ..

It's great to get it looking at you like that ... in answer to the question "does it have to be pin sharp?", well no it doesn't for a 'record' shot but it does really need to be sharp for a good shot. This particular image was shot at 1/1600th & f7.1 so in theory it should have been sharp but ISO was at 5000 and if that was at a large crop (as indicated by the noise) then that could indicate why it isn't, otherwise it's just another case of missed focus that we all experience.
Having said that, every Barn Owl shot is okay by me

Agree with the above Gramps .. .. I usually have shutter at around 1/2000, but due to the light dropping, I dropped the shutter to try and keep ISO down a little. Hopefully, I'll catch it in better light next time.. .. It wasn't a massive crop though and looked similar on the original raw file .. .. I'm thinking that the lens isn't helping matters and to get a shot i'd be happy with, I may need to invest in something better .. . ?

It doesn't look pin sharp to me and I find the low half of the bg very distracting, . I can't see the exif, I'm presuming Roger @gramps has an exif reader app?, but you could have saved a stop on the ISO with settings of 1000th, f6.3, bring the ISO down to 2500 which should be ok for an owl in flight........ that's the crit out of the way

I haven't got any Barn Owl shots in flight, just a couple of record shots of two perched,( its all Shorties and Loe's round by me), so if it was my first Barn Owl shot in flight, with great eye contact like yours above, I would be very happy with it as a record shot

As kodiak has said above, if its local keep at it , you may well end up with some absolutely cracking shot

Thanks Phil .. .i've never had the shutter that low for flight shots, but i will experiment the next time i'm out. Maybe that's where i'm going wrong as none of my birds in flight shots are how I want them to look, that is, sharp and detailed.. .. if that makes sense?

Just added it to Firefox, works a treat Roger, cheers .......its amazing how many actually hide the exif though

Sorry for the thread derail Moey

Ah, no need to apologise, I'm going to look into that myself, lol ... thanks

 

[Mark-Anthony]

That's a great shot in my eyes, at least you've caught a shot.