Why does all the good stuff happen when it is too dark to photograph?

[ricardo00]

Have been going to visit our burrowing owls the past few weeks and when it gets dark, they usually just fly off. So dark that my still shots at 1/40 required an ISO of 25,600. Not sure having a tripod would have helped much since the owl was active then. For me, this time was a first, the owl flew to a stored meal between some rocks close to where I was sitting. It pulled out what looked to be a partially eaten shore bird and then immediately flew off to another rock further away where it proceeded to eat it, feathers and all. Had my 400mm f/4.5 on my Z8 and took some video handheld. So not the best quality, but the first time I witnessed the burrowing owl doing more than sitting on a rock:

 

[ButlerKid]

Nice work, especially since this was hand held and so dark! I wouldn't think that feathers would have much food value, but what do I know?

 

[Calson]

Sometimes shooting a burst of shots is a good approach and can be the best way to get at least one "keeper" when using slower shutter speeds.

 

[ricardo00]

Sometimes shooting a burst of shots is a good approach and can be the best way to get at least one "keeper" when using slower shutter speeds.

I did do that as well and got some still shots:

 

[Garfield]

Still, well captured considering...what frame rate/SS did you use?

 

[ricardo00]

Still, well captured considering...what frame rate/SS did you use?

Thanks! If I remember correctly, frame rate was 30 fps and shutter speed was 1/50.

 

[Dave63401]

Have been going to visit our burrowing owls the past few weeks and when it gets dark, they usually just fly off. So dark that my still shots at 1/40 required an ISO of 25,600. Not sure having a tripod would have helped much since the owl was active then. For me, this time was a first, the owl flew to a stored meal between some rocks close to where I was sitting. It pulled out what looked to be a partially eaten shore bird and then immediately flew off to another rock further away where it proceeded to eat it, feathers and all. Had my 400mm f/4.5 on my Z8 and took some video handheld. So not the best quality, but the first time I witnessed the burrowing owl doing more than sitting on a rock:

Neat action clip. Kind of amazing you got this good in those conditions.
Dave

 

[ricardo00]

Neat action clip. Kind of amazing you got this good in those conditions.
Dave

Thanks Dave! I was happy with the results too though kept kicking myself for not bringing my 300mm f/2.8 this time (have prior times).
PS. Used iMovie to process (image stabilization, etc).