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![\"barn](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/barn-owl-5055-ron-dudley.jpg\")
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Yesterday morning this\u00a0owl was hunting along the upper edge of a steep-sided hill as it came in my general direction and then rounded the hill to my right.\u00a0 In the first four shots you can see that its attention is riveted to the side of the hill where the snow cover is much less\u00a0deep than it is everywhere else, which would increase the chances of spotting\u00a0a vole.<\/p>\n
I chose to\u00a0compose these images a little differently so that the frost-covered hunting ground becomes almost as important to the image as the bird.\u00a0 If you have any thoughts on this composition I’d be interested in hearing them.<\/p>\n
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![\"barn](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/barn-owl-5057-ron-dudley.jpg\")
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As the bird rounded the hilltop and\u00a0got closer to me\u00a0the frosted vegetation\u00a0became more dominant in the images.<\/p>\n
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![\"barn](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/barn-owl-5058-ron-dudley.jpg\")
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You can see that the snow on the hillside is patchy (most of the white is frost) so I believe that is why this bird was hunting there.<\/p>\n
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![\"barn](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/barn-owl-5059-ron-dudley.jpg\")
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This is the last shot I got before losing focus on the owl.<\/p>\n
I’m including this next image (using\u00a0that term loosely…) simply for the fun of it.<\/p>\n
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![\"barn](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/barn-owl-5062-ron-dudley.jpg\")
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I’ve mentioned in previous posts how difficult it becomes to maintain focus on a bird in flight when the background is relatively close to the subject and has a lot of texture\/contrast.\u00a0 That’s what happened here.\u00a0 It was easier to keep the owl in focus when the background was blue sky or white frost\u00a0but when the bird moved in front of the bare ground my focus point almost immediately locked on to\u00a0the background and the bird became very soft.<\/p>\n
And what a surprise it was to find the female Ring-necked Pheasant in the upper right hand corner of the photo.\u00a0 I didn’t know she was in the shot until I reviewed my images at home (this photo is full frame).<\/p>\n
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![\"barn](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/barn-owl-5071-ron-dudley.jpg\")
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By the time I locked focus on the owl again it had rounded the hill and was too far past me to see the eyes well without a head turn in my direction (which simply wasn’t\u00a0going to happen since the owl was more\u00a0interested in\u00a0hunting than posing for me…)<\/p>\n
I liked the first four images because of the hunting behavior and the frosty setting but I just can’t help but feel a twinge of angst for the welfare of these owls when they’re forced to hunt during daytime.<\/p>\n
Ron<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Barn Owls are still hunting sporadically during daylight in northern Utah.\u00a0 I’ve seen them doing so in a variety of areas and heard reports of it happening elsewhere. Some areas near the Great Salt Lake are literally “magical wonderlands” in the early mornings due to the thick layer of hoarfrost that covers nearly everything.\u00a0 The frost falls off the vegetation during the day, then reforms during the night.\u00a0 The hoarfrost produces a setting for my images that appeals to me. The camera settings for the images in this post were: 1\/3200, f\/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f\/4.\u00a0 The owl was not baited, set up or called in.\u00a0 Yesterday morning this\u00a0owl was hunting along the upper edge of a steep-sided hill as it came in my general direction and then rounded the hill to my right.\u00a0 In the first four shots you can see that its attention is riveted to the side of the hill where the snow cover is much less\u00a0deep than it is everywhere else, which would increase the chances of spotting\u00a0a vole. I chose to\u00a0compose these images a little differently so that the frost-covered hunting ground becomes almost as important to the image as the bird.\u00a0 If you have any thoughts on this composition I’d be interested in hearing them. As the bird rounded the hilltop and\u00a0got closer to me\u00a0the frosted vegetation\u00a0became more dominant in the images. You can see that the snow on the hillside is patchy (most of the white is frost) so I believe that…<\/p>\n