Owl in Flight - Does it Work?

[Lava Lamp]

What do you think of this?

N80 & 75-300 & Kodak PJ800.

[gahspidy]

Great shot LL I only wish you were able to freeze the wings on this one. Somehow, to me anyway, the blurred wings up in that posititon seem distracting , to me. What a cool looking bird is the Owl. Love to see some more if you could.

[kafin8ed]

I think I like the motion in the wings but I find the background to be dull and distracting. The reason I say that is if the shot had a lake or trees or sky in the BG I know I'd like it better. It looks like he's in a zoo cage.

[bingo pajama]

i agree with alan. maybe you could blur the background a bit and make it less distracting. but i do like the motion. and the fact that the eyes are sharp.

[paulnj]

What do you think of this?

N80 & 75-300 & Kodak PJ800.

i think it''s an eagle owl(from animal kingdom?) with a shutter speed of 1/125th or so. too close to the wall and had you been one stop faster, the blur would be less(not that the blur is bad)

[natatbeach]

where all the different birds fly into the audience and such and the stage looks like ruins of some sort?

It was a very fast show...the birds were never in flight for very long...so taking that into consideration there's not much you can do about the background (especially from the audience vantage point) I'm pretty impressed how sharp the face and body are...and I don't think the wings ncessarily detract from the image...I would go with posted advice and blur out some of the background.

good catch...

[Lava Lamp]

What do you think of this?

N80 & 75-300 & Kodak PJ800.

Thanks for all the comments. Yes, it was at Animal Kingdom. I've been to another raptor show - actually a better one - at a bird rehabiliation and education center and I knew the speed of the birds, but using 800 speed film and a maximum aperture of 5.6, 1/125 was the best I could get.

[PuckJunkey]

While the background isn't "ideal" per se, I think you did an excellent job of capturing the moment. I actually like the blurred wings quite a bit (and their orientation) because it shows a nice contrast to the Owl's body and face. Excellent shot!

[mtbbrian]

Very Dramatic!
The placement of the is good, good use of the rule of thirds.
Panning technique is very effective too.
Brian

[daiv07]

I love the blurred wings and the sharp body. gives a sense of the power. I won't mention the BG though. that's been hit enough! aside from all the critisism though, you got want you got. You can't ask the owl to be in a different spot so kudos to you for getting the shot despite the imperfections.

[bobbythebandit]

Took a second to make out the owl , the blurred wings confused me.Therefore to me it does not work but a great try and i am sure there are many that will like it.Thanks for sharing.
Bobby