Owls... Share Your Owl Photos

If you would like to post, you'll need to register. Note that if you have a BCG store account, you'll need a new, separate account here (we keep the two sites separate for security purposes).

DRwyoming

DRwyoming

Moderator
Staff member
Supporting Member
Marketplace
Member's gallery
I'm fascinated by owls of every shape and size and love it when I can find one in the wild to photograph. Sometimes I find them by noticing small birds mobbing them and follow the racket, sometimes I spot likely owl nests throughout the year, especially if there's signs of recent white wash and owl pellets on the ground and sometimes I cruise around likely owl habitat in late winter on cross country skis and notice where owls are nesting for the year. But I sure love capturing images of owls any time of year.

Here's a Burrowing Owl shot by the roadside in Central Washington who was kind enough to pose for me for a while in soft evening light.

600mm f/4 with TC-14 @850mm, f/5.6, 1/200", ISO 160

dBOBW0196_Websize.jpg
You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.


So what Owls are other folks seeing and capturing on their sensors?
 
Last edited:
I love to watch the burrowing owls but I haven't seen any in a few years. Great photo!
 
Member's gallery
Hut said:
I love to watch the burrowing owls but I haven't seen any in a few years. Great photo!
Click to expand...
Thanks, I was wondering if they're still around. This is definitely in your neck of the woods but it was captured quite a few years ago.
 
DRwyoming said:
Thanks, I was wondering if they're still around. This is definitely in your neck of the woods but it was captured quite a few years ago.
Click to expand...
There is a young lady on one of the PNW birding groups that is like an owl whisperer. She posted some photos of a burrowing owl near Quincy this year but I have not seen any personally.
 
Member's gallery
DRwyoming said:
I'm fascinated by owls of every shape and size and love it when I can find one in the wild to photograph. . But I sure love capturing images of owls any time of year.
Click to expand...
RD, I could have written that - both my wife and I love owls and a trip to the bush without seeing one feels like we have been cheated. Lovely little guy, like the colour and light. Have seen them in captivity here, so can relate to size and the wonderful fierce eyes!
 
Member's gallery
Barred owl That at the time didn't notice the stick coming though it head and out it's rear end. unfortunately he was in a spot that just had a very small window to photograph. Maybe it time to go back and try and remove said stick from butt (LOL), in post now that Im a little better at it.
_DSC0151-1.jpg
You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.
LOL
 
Member's gallery
gordon_g said:
Barred owl That at the time didn't notice the stick coming though it head and out it's rear end. unfortunately he was in a spot that just had a very small window to photograph. Maybe it time to go back and try and remove said stick from butt (LOL), in post now that Im a little better at it.View attachment 1927 LOL
Click to expand...
Agree with your PP suggestion, will spruce it up more!
 
Member's gallery
gordon_g said:
Barred owl That at the time didn't notice the stick coming though it head and out it's rear end. unfortunately he was in a spot that just had a very small window to photograph. Maybe it time to go back and try and remove said stick from butt (LOL), in post now that Im a little better at it.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I'd definitely give it a shot. That's a beautiful owl. I love the sharp but jet black eyes with just a hint of catch light!
 
Member's gallery
Great Grey Owls
D5 100-400

I found this pair of juvenile GGO's hunting in the Shoshone National Forrest.
The second shot shows just how well they can camouflage themselves. No wonder they're so hard to find.

GGO 4 (1 of 1).jpg
You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.





GGO 6 cammo (1 of 1).jpg
You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.
 
I love owls. Mediocre at best photos like these are what prompted me to start upping my game so to speak with equipment and knowledge. I shot these Great Horned Owls photo at a barn in Morrow County Oregon with a mirrorless micro four thirds DMC-GM1 and LUMIX G VARIO 45-150/F4.0-5.lens. Anyhow, I really like this location it is a beautiful scene imo but my skills weren't up to snuff back then.
owl-6_18_16-2-2.jpg
You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.
morrow_county_barn-2.jpg
You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.
 
Member's gallery
Hut said:
I love owls. Mediocre at best photos like these are what prompted me to start upping my game so to speak with equipment and knowledge. I shot these Great Horned Owls photo at a barn in Morrow County Oregon with a mirrorless micro four thirds DMC-GM1 and LUMIX G VARIO 45-150/F4.0-5.lens. Anyhow, I really like this location it is a beautiful scene imo but my skills weren't up to snuff back then.View attachment 1936View attachment 1937
Click to expand...
Getting an owl in a barn window has long been on my bucket list..Been searching for years, no luck. Nice capture
 
Member's gallery
I love owls also. The below are taken in Israel, 4 of the 8-9 species around.
Would appreciate your constructive criticism. Think about it this way - what would you change so that you would enjoy hanging them on your wall.

Gear: D7200 + Tamron 150-600mm G2 except for tree owl: Nikon 18-140mm

190608 Little owl Rosh Ha'ayin 262 export.JPG
You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.
190608 Little owl Rosh Ha'ayin 201 export.JPG
You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.

Little owl, central Israel

190511 Pura Reserve and Eagle Owl 190 export.JPG
You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.
Timorim 538 export.JPG
You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.

Eurasian eagle owl (left), long-eared owl (right), both southern Israel

200727 Barn owl 047 export.JPG
You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.

I was only able to find barn owls at night. Difficult to photograph.
 
Member's gallery
Great images Michel!

For starters I'd print and hang the Barn Owl with the black background just as it is. Realistically as I prep an image for printing I'd probably go into LR or PS and see if there are small changes that improve the look but a lot of times that means trying things only to discard the changes. For instance I might try a small tweak of the Clarity slider in LR to see if it enhances feather detail without looking garish or over contrasty. Similarly in a shot like that I might experiment a bit with the color Temperature and Tint or the Vibrance slider but I'm not sure I'd really change anything without seeing the impact of those small adjustments. And as always I'll sharpen at final output size prior to printing but again it might be only a bit of sharpening.

For the other images I'd say a couple might need a bit of contrast enhancement which could be an S Curve or perhaps a bit of Clarity or DeHaze (both gentler versions of Contrast adjustment) that particularly applies to the owls in the cave which tend to recede back into the similar colors of the rock behind them. And of course in all the images I'd check for critical sharpness at the eyes zoomed in on the full sized image and possibly apply some selective sharpening or decide that I couldn't print large if the fundamental sharpness just isn't there but that's hard to assess from web sized images.

I think all of these could work but you might struggle a bit with some of the busier backgrounds. Again hard to say without getting into post and seeing what you can do but tangled or bright backgrounds can be tricky though there are approaches like selective blurs or some burning down of bright backgrounds that can help. Again it might limit how large you want to print individual images or whether you opt for something like a triptych or montage instead of individual portraits.

I love the expression on the lower right hand corner owl leaning a bit but the background on that might prove difficult to deal with.

These are some beautiful birds you captured but in the end which you print and how you process them prior to printing are very personal choices and different photogs will see things differently. But to my eyes at least the bottom owl on the black background will be the easiest to prep for a really nice wall hanging assuming the critical sharpness is where you want it when viewing the full sized image.

Great shots!
 
Member's gallery
Great Grey Owl, Finland / Russia border. (Permission to film at nest.)

Z6, 500f4, f5.0 @ 1/320, ISO1600.

48247394927_0dfc7752b0_o.jpg
You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.


Nikon D4, 500f4 + 1.4, f5.6 @ 1/200, ISO2500

48247399007_95c8bfe0de_o.jpg
You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top