Watching you

[jeeperman]

Sorry for my semi absence here as of late, I have been a little under the weather. Nothing serious, I assure you but I have not been able to get out as I wish.
I am feeling better. In fact I actually got a few shots today. There are some more that will make a series along the lines below. They will have to wait until this time tomorrow. At which time I will catch up on some of your great images that I have been watching, hence the title and image.

Eurasian Eagle Owl

[whited3]

Great shot Paul. Can you give us the technicalities please? DoF looks very shallow but focus is spot on on the bridge of his/her beak. Post processing?

[jeeperman]

Thanks, sure Mark, I shot this in early sun filterd through the trees, while it was a bit low light there was some direct sun reaching him. My settings where ISO 400 at F8 and 1/13sec 400mm handheld. I did some levels adjustments and slight contrast bump with a bit of unsharp mask. Pretty much standard fair. I did give it a bit of a crop as I do have his ears and a little more under his beak and a little green OOF background in the origonal.

[Bobobird]

Glad you are better. Was wondering what had happened to you.

This shot is SUPER SUPER fantastic.

[kdoc856]

Great shot, Paul. Looking forward to the series

[Daisy Mae]

Nice to see you back paul and so glad you are feeling better.

Stunning shot to come back with.

[Mike Buckley]

Incredible eyes.

[FrankMi]

Wow! Fantastic detail! Even at 400mm, you must have been very close to get this level of enlargement.

[Steve S]

A stunning close-up Paul. Glad you're feeling better.

[Donald]

A stunning close-up Paul.

Just like Steve and others have said.

It makes an immense impact the moment you first see it. It's the sort of image that needs to go into an exhibition and be hung on the wall just around the corner, so that you come round and 'BANG', this hits you.

Superb bit of work. Glad to see that your little 'blip' has not affected the skill levels.

[jeeperman]

Thank you Bobo, Kevin, Sharon, Mike, Frank, Steve and Donald! I find shooting close ups of the birds of prey quite interesting as their feather structure stands out among birds.
I am just getting up and moving this morning to see this response, glad you guys like it as much as I do.
When I return home I will work on getting this little series together.

[redrew]

Superb photo. A 400mm Telephoto, handheld at 1/13 of the second with sharp results is truly amazing.

[ggt]

Its so good it's creepy!

[Sonomadavid]

Amazing shot! Such clarity and beautiful detail.

[jeeperman]

Thank you Rollin it can be a trick but good solid technique and a bit of vibration control can do wonders.

Grethen, lol creepy huh.... Thank you.

Thank you David, I am somewhat driven by detail.

[MilT0s]

1/13s @ 400mm?!?! Handheld!! Really?? You are a robot, aren't you?

This is an extremely sharp and amazing image. I can see every little feather of the bird!

Really well done.

[terrib]

I'm also amazed at the clarity at that speed handheld. It's a beautiful picture and I love the close in perspective you chose.

[jeeperman]

LOL! Thank you Miltos, The feather structure of many Owls lend itself to a really fascinating visual. Robot....no I took 5 frames only two where this sharp and a third not bad but not eaqual either. I wanted to make sure I got at least two good ones to pick from. Robot would be 5 for 5.

Thank you Terri.

[TheArcane]

Beautiful image. I love the clarity and how striking the image is the moment you see it.

[Jack R Mann]

Great shot Paul always like seeing what you come up with.