Barred Owl

[Knight]

Well this is a first for me , night photography . I was out the night before last patrolling a dead power line when this guy just missed our truck and landed in a tree right next to us . Heart ponding i stopped the truck and rushed out with my camera. This is the best i was able to get .

[Ron Kruger]

What was your light source? Your shutter speed?

[Knight]

Ron most of the light source was from the search light on the truck , but the onboard flash on my D50 did fire also.Shutter speed was 1/60sec iso 200 at 220mm F/5.6. I do have a SB 600 but it was in my D80 kit bag.Im also thinking of getting a better beamer for my SB600 i think it would be a good addittion to my gear

[Ron Kruger]

I think you had enough light and a fast enough shutter speed at that ISO to make a good, sharp shot (especially with an IS lens), but the owl moved as your were pressing the shutter. Probably were too far for any type of flash to help. Not sure what you mean by a "beamer."
Focus with AF sometimes is a problem, too, because with those settings you are dealing with shallow DOF, but because the limb seems to be in focus, and the lower half of the owl is sharper than his head, I'm pretty sure it is subject movement.
Did you take other shots? I would keep shooting until the owl left, because you never know at those settings when subject movement or camera shake has thrown an image out.

[Knight]

Ron a better beamer is a flash extender , google it up and you will get a picture of it .I had a hard time getting AF to focus in with the D50 . Oh and i forgot to mention that i had to clone out quite a few branches .

[Loupey]

Nice job, Knight. I rather like the search light being the primary light source in this one.

Handsome specimen.

[Ron Kruger]

I don't know about the D50's AF, but when shooting in the woods, I almost always use MF because I've leanred AF won't distinguish between my intended subject and branches, leaves, blades of grass, etc.
Still, I believe in this case the bird moved, and at 1/60th, any movement will cause blurr. Owls, deer and many other animals and birds often sit still to allow slow shutter speeds, but you can never be sure. It's like taking group shots of people. You always want to take a bunch of shots of the same scene, because you never know when someone has blinked.
Nevertheless, by examining the limb, I notice it quickly goes out of focus just a few inches up the limb, so DOF and focus may be a factor. Next time try MF and concentrate the focus on the face.

[Knight]

Heres another Ron ,i think i got better focus on this one . I had not notice that this one was a Tad sharper.This one i had cut short on top so i added a bit of canvas and did some cloning.

[Ron Kruger]

Yes, I'm not sure the focus is better, but the DOF is better on this one, judging by the clarity of the main tree and the limb the owl is sitting on, so the owl is sharper. Still, it doesn't seem as clear as what I've seen from the D50.
I'll bet the simplest answer to improving these types of shots is a faster lens. An f/5.6 is pretty slow. For the same light, I believe something around a f/2.8 or even a f/3.5 would give you much greater DOF and clarity. I'm a firm beliver in good glass, especially for wildlife photograph, because many of our opportunities come during low light situations.

[AgingEyes]

Wow ! I was just wondering if anybody would go out photographing birds at night and you posted these. Did the owl stay put when you left?

[paulnj]

You did awesome with the situation !

[Knight]

Thanks Paul , AA the owl wondered of to another tree about fifty feet away we could see his silhouette but we did not put the spotlight on him again, figured that he had enough of me

[scott-devon]

Knight, that second shot is wonderful. Super shot , and very impressive under those conditions. I think Ron is right about subject movement in the first one.

[Grandpaw]

I like the second shot the best. I don't know how well the D50 handles ISO 300 to 400 but you might try it the next time. I know in a surprise situation like this you may not have the time to do much thinking before the opportunity is gone but you might try the higher ISO. I am curious about the size of the Owl if you remember, Jeff

[Knight]

Thanks Scott,Grandpaw i have to start playing with iso's i think im missing a big part of photography by not playing with them. If i remember correctly this owl measured approx 18 to 22 inches .