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In early winter of 2007 I was still a wet-behind-the-ears bird photographer. I’d only had my 500 mm lens for a few months and was just beginning to learn how to use it to its potential on perched birds but birds in flight were still way beyond my abilities. I was shooting at an effective 1120 mm and at those focal lengths I simply could not!<\/em> find a flying bird in my viewfinder and get it in focus in the short time I had before it was gone.<\/p>\n I remember clearly that I had a single sharp shot of a lumbering and slow Great Blue Heron in flight (I actually posted that photo to a bird photography critique forum) but every other time I’d tried I’d failed. So I basically gave up on birds in flight. They were way over my head, both literally and figuratively.<\/p>\n But when the early winter of 2007-08 rolled around there were suddenly many opportunities for Northern Harriers, Bald Eagles and even Barn Owls in flight and that was the kick in the pants I needed to work at developing my flight shot skills again. Eventually I got a few (very few) harriers and eagles in flight but it was the Barn Owls that were the gold standard so I spent endless hours over many days freezing my fingers, toes, ears and ass off as I stood in front of a tripod in the snow waiting for an owl to fly by.<\/p>\n As far as I can tell from reviewing my older photos the Barn Owl below, this very bird and these very photos, was my first success.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 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 On February 15, 2008 I was at Farmington Bay WMA standing in the snow next to another photographer who was coaching me when this Barn Owl approached at a cross angle from the north. I remember the joy of actually seeing ‘him’ come into focus in my viewfinder just before I pressed the shutter button.<\/p>\n And once I was locked onto the bird I managed to stay locked on for…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 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 two more…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 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 shots before I lost him.\u00a0He was slightly side lit so I didn’t get any light in his eye but because of their deeply set eyes getting a catch light in Barn Owls in flight is unusually difficult so I didn’t much care.<\/p>\n Hot damn, I had three consecutive sharp shots of a Barn Owl in flight with no body parts clipped so I was in my own personal nirvana. In the following days, before the weather warmed up and Barn Owls stopped flying in daytime, I managed to get a fair number of additional flight shots of Barn Owls. I was on a roll and to this day I have this owl to thank for it.<\/p>\n Without this bird and this success I might very well have just given up again. I can only take so much frustration.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Note: <\/em><\/p>\n Looking back on these photos I’m reminded of the advancements in photo technology. The burst rate of my old Canon 40D was only 6.5 frames\/sec. Back then if I’d had access to my current 7D Mark II with a burst rate of 10 frames\/sec I’d probably have been able to get twice as many shots of this owl before I lost it in my viewfinder. And my 7DII has a slow burst rate compared to many of the newer cameras.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" One of the most significant events in my bird photography career.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/barn-owl-9872-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"barn-owl-9872-ron-dudley\\"")
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