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Owl's portrait


Owl's portrait
Photo Information
Copyright: Helene Provencher (chouette) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 302 W: 0 N: 843] (3000)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2005-03-20
Categories: Birds
Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel, Canon EF 75-300mm USM III
Exposure: f/11, 1/1000 seconds
Details: Tripod: Yes
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2006-01-22 22:12
Viewed: 1575
Points: 40
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
From a treetop, this Great Gray Owl was listening for prey.

I hope you like it!

Owl Eyes and Vision

Of all an Owl's features, perhaps the most striking is its eyes. Large and forward facing, they may account for one to five percent of the Owl's body weight, depending on species. The forward facing aspect of the eyes that give an Owl its "wise" appearance, also give it a wide range of "binocular" vision (seeing an object with both eyes at the same time). This means the owl can see objects in 3 dimensions (height, width, and depth), and can judge distances in a similar way to humans. The field of view for an owl is about 110 degrees, with about 70 degrees being binocular vision.

By comparison, humans have a field of view that covers 180 degrees, with 140 degrees being binocular.

An Owl's eyes are large in order to improve their efficiency, especially under low light conditions. In fact, the eyes are so well developed, that they are not eye balls as such, but elongated tubes. They are held in place by bony structures in the skull called Sclerotic rings. For this reason, an Owl cannot "roll" or move its eyes - that is, it can only look straight ahead!
The Owl more than makes up for this by being able to turn its head around, and almost upside-down. It is able to achieve this by having a long and very flexible neck, which is not always apparent, as it is hidden by feathers and the Owl's posture. An owl's neck has 14 vertebrae, which is twice as many as humans. This allows the owl to turn its head through a range of 270 degrees measured from a forward facing position.

Since Owls have extraordinary night vision, it is often thought that they are blind in strong light. This is not true, because their pupils have a wide range of adjustment, allowing the right amount of light to strike the retina. Some species of Owls can actually see better than humans in bright light.

To protect their eyes, Owls are equipped with 3 eyelids. They have a normal upper and lower eyelid, the upper closing when the owl blinks, and the lower closing up when the Owl is asleep. The third eyelid is called a nictitating membrane, and is a thin layer of tissue that closes diagonally across the eye, from the inside to the outside. This cleans and protects the surface of the eye.

Speed: 1/1000 f/11
ISO 400
Focal Length: 300mm

Tripod
radz, Wahclellaspirit, coasties, soccer, odin, livios, scottevers7, Athila, rosana, hibou, marhowie, wkshelton has marked this note useful
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Critiques [Translate]

  • Great 
  • radz Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 603 W: 11 N: 616] (3404)
  • [2006-01-22 22:13]

Helene this is nice portrait with nice details.Good POV.

Agreed, nice portrait of this beautiful bird, and well worth a smile.

Hi Helene,
Fantastic portrait!
Very beautiful owl well captured with good detail.
Thanks for sharing!

  • Great 
  • Nico Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 209 W: 1 N: 332] (1313)
  • [2006-01-23 1:54]

Magnificent portrait of this owl. Good detail. Looks wise and maybe a little grumpy.

Helene,
This is a beautiful portrait of the Great Gray Owl.
The patterns are perfectly focused and the eyes are very attentive and sharp. A great image.
Congrat's...

Hi Helene

Nice shot. Lovely composition. Good light and POV. Good exposure and colours. Crisp, clear and sharp. Nice work. Thanks.

Excellent portrait of the Owl. Great detail and POV. TFS, Sheriff

  • Great 
  • odin Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 183 W: 1 N: 207] (1157)
  • [2006-01-23 9:59]

Joli protrait de cette chouette lapone Hélène, Vraiment une belle image Bravo.
Sébastien

  • Great 
  • livios Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2156 W: 322 N: 4258] (16906)
  • [2006-01-23 12:43]

Helene, very nice pov, composition and dof.

I like bg and contrast too.

Great eye contact, excellent colors.

Hi Helene,
Excellent portrait shot. Very beautiful colors. The nice blue sky backround really makes the owl standout. Detail is sharp, and the compo. and framing are flawless. Very nice work!
Scott

  • Great 
  • optic Gold Star Critiquer [C: 322 W: 0 N: 0] (0)
  • [2006-01-24 7:30]

Bonjour Hélène,
Très beau portrait de chouette lapone, belle définition et couleurs bien contrastées. Je n'ai pas encore eu la chance d'en rencontrer cette hiver me consacrant aux harfangs des neiges !

À bientôt!
Christian

  • Great 
  • jossim Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1575 W: 5 N: 2181] (12252)
  • [2006-01-24 7:39]

Bon portrait de ce magnifique oiseau,l'éclairage est bon et les détails excellents.

Félicitations pour cette capture et merci Helene.

joseph

Eautiful portrait shot of this magnificant looking owl. Well done Helene. :)

  • Great 
  • SkyF Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2233 W: 188 N: 1929] (8127)
  • [2006-01-24 14:05]

Very nice portrait, it looks like he is concentrating on his next prey. Wonderful sharp Details.
Regards...SkyF

  • Great 
  • Athila Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 305 W: 232 N: 432] (1564)
  • [2006-01-24 15:02]

Bonjour Hélène!

Très bon portrait de cet oiseau. La bonne mise au point et l'exposition précise délivre d'excellents détails sur toute la surface de l'image. Le cadrage serré concentre l'attention sur son regard perçant.
Du très bon travail et merci pour l'envoi.

What a fantastic shot, it's so well captured that I can only congratulate you.
Ciao
Rosana

  • Great 
  • hibou Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 216 W: 1 N: 329] (1617)
  • [2006-01-26 18:06]

Bonjour Hélène, Pose, couleurs, détais, cadre etc. tout est parfait ... Merci de partager ce supberbe cliché ! La Mona Lisa vient de perdre sa place ! Donald L.

Very nice Helene..Just taking a quick look back. Thank You!

Hello again,

Great shot DOF is excellent. Close up of an owl. Ilove it. thanks for Sharing.

Super portrait de cette chouette laponne, beaucoup mieux que ma photo. On voit très bien les détails des plumes et des couleurs. Bravo encore.
martin

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