A Snowy Day

[scott_vt]

I think I've had it! Bring on spring

Good Evenin Rob,
Agreed ! We got chased out of Vt yesterday, snowin like the dickens, someday Im just gonna sit there and enjoy it !

 

[WBWI]

Ah, a gear question. Just like tractors, some of us do like to talk camera gear too. I used a Canon 30D and 400mm f5.6 lens for these shots. I tried some with 1.4 and 2X teleconverters but that lens doesn't take them well. It's a great lens for nature and relatively affordable. The next jump up starts costing as much as a tractor, so it's a ways off for me. Unfortunately, for good bird shots the long lenses seem to be pretty much a requirement. I need a lot of work on my technique though, before I sink any more money into it!

I just ventured into the digital SLR world with an Olympus E-520 and 2 lenses, 14-42mm and 40-150mm. It is replacing a Cannon EOS Rebel 35mm system. I had no experience with DSLR's and relied on the camera shop to get me into a decent camera. Reviews have been decent for an "entry" level camera. I've always considered the teleconverters but never seemed to find time to buy one and test it. I could tell from your photo's that you had more than a 80-200mm zoom. I assume these were handheld shots and not on a tripod? Image stabilization is good!
When you mentioned using email notices from local bird clubs to find the owl I did a quick search in my area and found several local reports of snowys, eagles, etc. Thanks for the tip!

 

[czechsonofagun]

Cool pictures, did you see Harry Potter anywhere near?

 

[RobS]

Cool pictures, did you see Harry Potter anywhere near?

No Harry Potter, but now I'll have to ask my boys why that might be relevant!

 

[DocHeb]

No Harry Potter, but now I'll have to ask my boys why that might be relevant!

Harry and one of his owls, which are used in a manner to carrier pigeons.

 

[MossRoad]

No Harry Potter, but now I'll have to ask my boys why that might be relevant!

Man, I would have thought you would have seen at least one of those movies. I've seen them all, probably three times, because of my kids.

 

[EddieWalker]

Rob,

Beautiful pictures. I've never seen one of those myself and I'm not even sure of exactly what type of owl it is. I want to say snow owl, but that's just a guess.

Of the major bird species, I think the owls are about the toughest to get pictures of. We've managed to get one very far, very faint picture of a great horned owl, and that's it.

I think wildlife photography is allot like hunting. You get to pursue your game, find them, sneak up on them and the take them. The advantage of photography is in how often you get to do this.

Thanks for sharing,
Eddie

 

[RobS]

Thanks Eddie, yes it is a Snowy Owl. And I did learn from my boys last night the Harry Potter connection. Good conversation material!

And you are right too about the hunting aspect. That's exactly how I approach it, down to learning about the "prey" and their habits. The other nice thing about hunting with a camera vs. a gun is there are no seasons. I can hunt whatever I want, whenever I want. I do get some odd looks setting up my porta-blind in the middle of summer though.

 

[MossRoad]

Now you need to start turkey callin'.

 

[RobS]

Now you need to start turkey callin'.

I think I'll enjoy that one day, but from what I've heard turkeys are one of the hardest local animals to hunt. I think I'll wait until I have more time to invest! I have gotten some shots of them hanging out at our picnic table but sure enough, as soon as I try to get close they're onto me.