{"id":49316,"date":"2017-11-06T06:14:17","date_gmt":"2017-11-06T13:14:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=49316"},"modified":"2025-08-04T10:51:19","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T15:51:19","slug":"bear-river-mbr-barn-owls-in-flight-all-small-in-the-frame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/11\/06\/bear-river-mbr-barn-owls-in-flight-all-small-in-the-frame\/","title":{"rendered":"Bear River MBR American Barn Owls in Flight – All Small in the Frame"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AmericanAmerican Barn Owl in flight on a bright winter morning – Nikon D810, f6.3, 1\/2000, ISO 500, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

I’ve mentioned before that I like to take frame filling images of my subjects and that I love taking portraits of them too because of the fine details I can see in them that aren’t as clear when my subject is further away and I also like to take photos where my subjects; whether they are birds or animals, are small in the frame.<\/p>\n

When the birds or animals are small in the frame it allows me to show more of the habitat my subjects are found in.<\/p>\n

Snow will soon fly here in the valleys, it is already snowing in the mountains, in fact it is snowing in the high country today as I write this. Quite often when I think of winter I think of the opportunities I might have with American Barn Owls.<\/p>\n

American Barn Owls are nocturnal meaning that they hunt mostly at night but when there is snow on the ground it can be harder for them to find enough prey during the night to survive and they can be seen hunting more often during the day to capture enough prey. Winter is tough on them.<\/p>\n

I’ve had many opportunities at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> in northern Utah to photograph the American Barn Owls flying and hunting during the day light hours, close up, frame filling and from far away. Some of my favorite American Barn Owl photos where the owl is small in the frame come from that location. Why?<\/p>\n

Because of the scenery mostly. Having the marsh anchor the frame with the snowy Promontory Mountains in the background with the American Barn Owl in flight. What is not to like about that?<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Barn Owl in flight with snowy mountains – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/3200, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

Or without the marsh anchoring the photo and the snow topped mountains with blue skies and thin clouds behind the bird. The American Barn Owl seems to glow in the early morning light while the sun has just barely kissed the snow on top of the mountains in the distance.<\/p>\n

\"WinterWinter American Barn Owl in flight over the marsh at Bear River MBR – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 500, +1.0 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

And by having vegetation at the bottom of the frame, the frozen Bear River just behind that and more of the marsh in the distance while the American Barn Owl hunts along the river.<\/p>\n

\"Foggy,Foggy, snowy American Barn Owl in flight – Nikon D810, f6.3, 1\/1250, ISO 640, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

When this American Barn Owl on the wing flew straight at me while moving through the fog on a snowy winter morning I just knew I wanted the marshy habitat in the frame too.<\/p>\n

Usually I can’t show that much habitat when I take a frame filling shot of American Barn Owl, they just don’t show that much visual “information” in most cases.<\/p>\n

By having the American Barn Owls smaller in the frame in my photos I can share more visual information about where these beautiful owls live, hunt, and thrive.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to view more of my Barn Owl photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n

These photos were taken the winter of 2015-2016. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By having the American Barn Owls smaller in the frame in my photos I can share more visual information about where these beautiful owls live, hunt and thrive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":151333,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[129,124,27,1148,9,26],"tags":[3985,2663,4052,4122,4175,3984,683,4094,4378,3967,294,4528,4050,4328,6218,49,6219,373],"class_list":["post-49316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-barn-owls","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-owls","category-utah","tag-barn-owl","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-fog","tag-foggy","tag-habitat-2","tag-marsh","tag-morning","tag-owl","tag-owls","tag-promontory-mountains","tag-snow","tag-snowy","tag-snowy-mountains","tag-tyto-furcata","tag-visual-information","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/barn-owl-fog-snow-mia-mcpherson-1777.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-cPq","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":42912,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/10\/30\/wintry-barn-owl-flight\/","url_meta":{"origin":49316,"position":0},"title":"Wintry 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2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I am always grateful to see Barn Owls in winter and to be able to photograph them in sweet light is a delight.","rel":"","context":"In "American Barn Owls"","block_context":{"text":"American Barn Owls","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/owls\/barn-owls\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Flying American Barn Owl on a February morning, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/barn-owl-flight-mia-mcpherson-0990.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/barn-owl-flight-mia-mcpherson-0990.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/barn-owl-flight-mia-mcpherson-0990.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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