Burrowing Owl in low lightBurrowing Owl in low light – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1/80, ISO 1000, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited

There are Burrowing Owls on Antelope Island; I’ve photographed them hundreds of times, but yesterday I spotted one in a location I had never seen one before. It was close to the road which made photographing it from a vehicle easy the problem was heavy clouds made the light low and my shutter speed slow. Making sure my exposure was right using my histogram I fired off bursts which increased the chance that some of the images in the bursts would be sharp. And it worked.

Burrowing Owl portraitBurrowing Owl portrait – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1/60, ISO 1000, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited

I liked the how the water behind the owl created a soft, pastel background, how the owl’s eyes seem to glow with the enlarged pupils and even though the setting is a little messy it all seems to meld together well.

The light did get better before the owl took off but we had moved and there was a stem in front of the owl’s face that was distracting, those images got deleted.

It was a nice to find this Burrowing Owl surprise yesterday, I hope I’ll see it again.

Life is good.

Mia

Click here to see more of my Burrowing Owl photos plus facts and information about this species.