And out it flew

 

I haven't been out with the camera much in 2026 so I have to search the archives for something!  This shot was taken in November 2021 at the Russborough Birds of Prey Photoshoot.  The photoshoots provide a good opportunity to both see and photograph a range of interesting birds. Usually you get to see nine different birds in three different settings so a good bit of variety.

My main frustration is the jesses that are a necessary feature of captive bird.  I had to do a fair bit of 'photoshopping' to remove the wire line and the leather on the feet to improve the shot.  

This shot was captured during a sequence of static posed shots as the barn owl perched on the window sill.  But, it suddenly flapped and tried flying so I snapped a sequence.  Settings wise my shutter speed had been preset at 1/800 sec (slower than what I would use if I was planning on a movement shot) with an open aperture of f/5.6 and auto iso set the iso at 3200.  I had set a -0.7 under exposure compensation on my R6 camera shooting in manual mode. The focal length on my 100-400mm long lens was 164mm.

Barn owls are a beautiful medium size owl with a distinctive heart shape on their face.  The can be tricky to photograph due to the very dark eyes and the white feathers on the face and front of body.  The jesses are particularly noticeable on their long slender legs so I usually try look for a position where the legs are partially obscured if possible.