Barn Owl 19 crop

Barn Owl 33f crop

Barn owl  (Tyto alba)

I've always wanted to photograph wild barn owls in flight, so in late January 2008 I went with a couple of friends to North Norfolk for a few days to see what we could find.  We were amazed at just how many owls we saw, and after a little homework we spent a couple of mornings and evenings on 2 owls.  Unfortunately, one had a couple of feathers out of place, but it does prove the owl is wild.  

Barn Owl 14 crop

The light throughout the trip was quite dull, and coupled with the time of day that the owls came out to hunt, forced me into shooting at higher than normal ISO ratings.  With the Canon 5D, I would try to keep the ISO at 400 or below, but almost always the results were blurred through poor panning or even focus tracking.  Too many images were lost to the bin.   Thankfully, I think the aesthetic and interest value of the images more than compensates for any loss of quality, so I'm quite happy with these - for now.

 Barn Owl 39

Barn Owl 42

Barn owl photographs almost always mean dusk and lower light levels than ideal. 

This can often be compensated by the richer tones and more dramatic lighting.

Barn Owl 31

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