Congratulations to Trey Neal for winning Feature Thread of the Week with 3 votes - View Previous Winners
I made this shot between two trees that were quite close to my shooting position after the owl had flown to that limb from a higher perch. The owl was just barely visible between the trees leading to the effect surrounding the subject. This is how the image was captured with minor adjustments to contrast and noise.
Thanks everyone. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than smart. I spotted this owl as I was about to leave for the house. It was on the wrong side of my vehicle so I had to rest my 800 on the rollbar of my Jeep to try to get a shot. I took about 200 images of this owl as it hunted along the woods by the road. This shot was after it flew from its original perch and I was just lucky that I didn't need to move as it landed on that limb and I could just aim through that gap in the trees to get this image. All I was hoping was that it was sharp as I had a shaky rest on the rollbar. Thank goodness for VR and an insane ISO.
Thanks again. I manage to see quite a few barred owls but this was one of those times when one hopes everything goes well and you get a keeper. I wasn't positive about the composition with the owl being almost dead center but decided on the spot that this was one of those times when a subject in the center might actually work better than adhering to the rule-of-thirds or trying to get more creative with the composition. Simplicity in this case worked for me.
Nice looking shot...I think the slightly obscured view works well in this instance. I've got a local Barred owl who likes to come around when I take the dogs out at night, they'll be times I'll look up and it'll be just a few feet above me in the trees.
