Snowy Owl at Twilight


A week of owls is never enough, so here’s another snowy from my weekend at Boundary Bay. This photo was taken after the sun had set, in the fading glow of twilight. I had just enough light to up the ISO and still keep a reasonable shutter speed for a flight shot.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/500th of a second

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10 Comments

  1. Posted February 1, 2013 at 6:35 am by mom | Permalink

    Oh my!

  2. Posted February 1, 2013 at 8:56 am by Rachel | Permalink

    You’re right! The light was perfect! The detail is amazing.

  3. Posted February 1, 2013 at 10:19 am by Phyllis | Permalink

    Timing is everything…NICE!

  4. Posted February 1, 2013 at 1:38 pm by Patti Whittier | Permalink

    Great to see one in flight. Beautiful

  5. Posted February 1, 2013 at 1:51 pm by Shardae | Permalink

    OMG so beautiful.

  6. Posted February 1, 2013 at 1:52 pm by GH | Permalink

    I need to go to that place in my mind. Very beautiful.

  7. Posted February 1, 2013 at 10:09 pm by Tina Zimmer | Permalink

    Wow!

  8. Posted February 5, 2013 at 12:31 am by Angelina | Permalink

    Awesooooome! The sky ALmost steals this owl’s thunder here, so beautiful. But agreed – a week is not enough!

  9. Posted February 12, 2013 at 8:44 am by Rick | Permalink

    One amazing shot after the other.. What a stunning photo..
    Question Sean – do you always use / are you using the VR on the 200-400 in your shots?

    • Posted February 12, 2013 at 11:52 pm by Sean Crane | Permalink

      Thanks Rick, and yes, I always shoot handheld with the 200-400 so I always have the VR set to on (except when it accidentally gets switched to off which seems to happen a lot — I’ve thought about putting tape over it to keep it permanently set to on). Even at very high shutter speeds I keep it on. The trick is too not get too excited by a sudden opportunity and keep from jabbing at the shutter. You need to engage it a split second early by rolling your finger over the shutter release before firing.

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