Barn Owl in the rain

[colin C]

It wasn't much of a day and I was pretty wet through, but sometimes patience brings it's own reward. You rarely see Barn Owls in the rain ........... primarily because their feathers are like blotting paper.




Canon 1D MKIV + 500mm f4 L IS
Shutter: 1/1,250 sec
Aperture: f5
Metering: Manual
ISO: 800
White Balance: Auto
Scene Capture: Standard
IS: Off

Colin

[SamFisher]

Re: Barn Owl in the rain

I think your sensor needs a good clean Colin

Seriously, this is a great capture.
I've never seen a Barn Owl in the wild

Mike

[Les McLean]

Re: Barn Owl in the rain

Lovely, rain often (but not always) brings some gorgeous light, the light here is nice and luminous, and the rain provides a fitting backdrop to the graceful owl.

Good work (as usual)

[Alan Campbell]

Re: Barn Owl in the rain

Stunning image Colin,when metering is in manual does this mean manual focus.
sorry for sounding dim
Alan

[Stan]

Re: Barn Owl in the rain

Nice one Colin


Stan

[colin C]

Re: Barn Owl in the rain

Stunning image Colin,when metering is in manual does this mean manual focus.
sorry for sounding dim
Alan

There are no dim questions on this site, only opportunities to expand our knowledge. Hmmm ............... like that, might even use that phrase again!

As this shot stands, I didn't need to meter in manual. The green background and the Owl together wouldn't have "Fooled" the meter and I would have got the same shot using Tv 1/1,250sec. But, birds in flight are able to operate in a 3 dimensional environment and also pay no regard to a photographers needs. One minute they can by flying against a neutral background in the light, the next up in the sky against the light. An automatic exposure mode wouldn't cope with both of those extremes, without some further intervention from me.

Therfore, I meter for an average scene and enter those settings in Manual mode. I could have metered off a Greyscale, Skintones, or Grass and on this occasion I chose grass. I know that if the bird were sat on the grass, the bird would expose perfectly, so without changing any settings, if it flew against a bright sky, I still have settings dialled in to expose the bird correctly, even though the sky may be well and truly burn't out. But hey, I am taking photo's of birds, not skies. I really don't care what happens to the sky.

There is a flaw using this method. Although it will always expose for the bird properly, regardless of the background, or light direction, it only does so in the light level that you originally measured and set in your camera. As soon as the light changes, all bets are off. You have to be attuned to the light, recognise that it has changed, remeasure and reset. With practice and a little experience, you soon not only recognise an difference in light, but just "know" how many stops difference it is and just dial it in on the move.

To answer the second part of your question, manual exposure and manual focusiing are not linked, so you can always choose one without the other. Autofocus is so good, that I rarely use manual focus at all, generally only for macro work. For this shot I was on full auto, with the central dot aimed smack at the Owl's eye. From memory, I was slightly off, but one of the auxiliary tracking points kept it sharp on the body. From preference, I like the body pin sharp and a little blur in the wings. Just enough to imply some dynamic movement and to indicate that it was a genuine shot and not a Photoshop construct. Not that I am against Photoshop in any way, far from it, it's just that I strive to get it right in the camera and a bit of wing blur is often enough to show that I did.

Colin

[Alan Campbell]

Re: Barn Owl in the rain

Colin,
thanks for having the time to explain this.
Please correct me if i am wrong.

On reading your reply i take it you start off with your camera in tv and point to a grassy area,half press the shutter and take note of the aperature reading then switch to manual mode and put these readings in and let the autofocus do the rest.
I have never used manual mode,but have used manual focus,maybe i should try the other way around.

Wildlife photography is new to me and is somthing i am enjoying and very keen to learn with help from people like yourself on this forum
One day i hope to get results like yours and other members.
Many thanks
Alan

[Sandra]

Re: Barn Owl in the rain

Simply stunning. Love the framing and the glint of the rain drops. I have been very unsuccessful at BIF, maybe after your explanation I shall do better.

[Nathaniel]

Re: Barn Owl in the rain

Excellent one Colin, as usual. You will have me looking for Barn Owls next + Puffins!!

[Hereford_EOS2]

Re: Barn Owl in the rain

Another great owl shot Colin

[tesarver]

Re: Barn Owl in the rain

Nicely done Colin.

Tom

[SamFisher]

Re: Barn Owl in the rain

Great explenation Colin
Very intuitive

Mike

[colin C]

Re: Barn Owl in the rain

On reading your reply i take it you start off with your camera in tv and point to a grassy area,half press the shutter and take note of the aperature reading then switch to manual mode and put these readings in and let the autofocus do the rest.

Yes Alan .................. it's as easy as that.

I use a slight refinement of that: because I use Back Button Focus, I can completely blur the image, then use the shutter button to take the exposure reading. The marginal benefit of that is if there is a strong highlight or shadow within the more sensitive metering areas of the shot, a blured version will have less influence.

As I mentioned marginal, but a number of marginal improvements can make quite a difference when added together.

Colin

[David Stallard]

Re: Barn Owl in the rain

A guy really could go off you, you know - bravo sir

.DAVID.

[Nathaniel]

Re: Barn Owl in the rain

Colin, all your postings are an encouragement to "Charlies" like me to emulate! Not a bad thing. Also, it does give me ideas for expanding,increasing my scope. Long may you continue to post your images.

Nathaniel