![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/barn-owl-0541-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"barn-owl-0541-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nI pulled one of my dumber stunts while photographing this owl.<\/p>\n
I have an unusually early appointment this morning (not medical) with several tasks that have to be completed first. As a result I’m overextended and rushed so all you get is a rerun of a photo I’ve published before. The upside is that it’s been eleven years since I posted it so I suspect few current blog followers have seen it.<\/p>\n
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1\/2000, f\/8, ISO 400, Canon 40D, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS USM + EF 1.4 Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n I photographed this Barn Owl in February of 2008 as it was hunting in front of a stand of phrags at Farmington Bay WMA. The night before the entire refuge, including the phrags we see here, had been smothered in a thick layer of hoarfrost so the background has an eerie, frosty look to it. The owl was side lit so I didn’t get a catch light in its eye but Barn Owls have such deeply set eyes it’s unusually difficult to get light in their eyes even in ideal lighting conditions. So I’ve learned to cut them some slack in that department.<\/p>\n I have vivid memories of that morning because it was so very cold. I was using a tripod (unusual for me) while standing in the frozen snow and like a dummy I was wearing tennis shoes so by the time I left for home my feet were so cold they were like stumps that I couldn’t feel at all. So as I was leaving the refuge I had to pull over and sit in my pickup with the heater blasting for quite a while to warm my feet up before I drove home.<\/p>\n Driving on the freeway when you have no feeling in your feet – not a good idea.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I pulled one of my dumber stunts while photographing this owl.<\/p>\n