Great Gray Owl and Raven Silhouette

[Teton Chuck]

This is a Great Gray Owl that I photographed in Grand Teton National Park. It is the largest owl in the world by length. It has superb hearing and can detect its prey under two feet of snow, and then crash in for a meal. Finding this bird was a special treat.

I was nearby another Great Gray this morning, but the light was poor. Then I turned around and saw these two ravens perched in a dead tree. I couldn't resist. The experimenting goes on.

[IzzieK]

Chuck -- I would strongly advice you to at least remove the white whatever on top of the head of the owl -- and the other white one at the right of its head. Otherwise, I have nothing to nit about the shot. I will let the others comment on #2 shot...I am getting too tired now and want to go back to bed pretty soon...

[terrib]

Chuck, congrats on the Great Gray Owl find! I know what a treat it is to find an owl in enough light to photograph AND to have a clear shot of its face. To be honest, I didn't even notice the white reflection above the owl but now that Izzie has pointed it out...
I love the look on his face. Great shot!

[Shadowman]

Nice efforts.

[Mike Buckley]

Chuck,

Is coming upon a Great Grey Owl in the park relatively rare or common?

[Nicks Pics]

Great Great Grey owl find! The photo is done pretty well, but to be picky it doesn't quite stand out quite as lifelike as some of the wildlife shots seen from high-end DSLRs. Perhaps it could be improved in PP, but maybe it's a camera thing. I think I would play with WB more to make the colors more true. Maybe there is a pale yellow hue to it right now. I'm curious to know what camera/settings you did use?

The ravens are really cool. Nicely exposed.

[csa mt]

My hope is someday to be able to find & photograph an owl! What an awesome creature! I do agree that removing those white streaks would improve the image greatly.

The second image is quite good! I love the starkness of it, with only the two birds; like in a world of their own, really great!

[Teton Chuck]

Thanks to all for the comments and suggestions. I will work on the white streak. Mike, we have quite a few Great Gray Owls in Jackson Hole, but it is not always easy to find them. This owl has been hanging out in the same region all summer. People are traveling from far away to see and photograph it. Last winter I was in Misssoula Mt. and found a Great Gray. There was a man from Seattle who had driven to Missoula because he heard the owl was there.

Carol, thanks for commenting on the second image. I wanted to see if I could get something out of two ravens in a dead tree with a gray sky behind. I will not give up on this sort of shot, but I have some learning to do.

[flashback]

Chuck, great shot and awesome bird. I played with the image and you might try lowering the mid-tones a bit, that and a bit of sharpening really pops the image...just a thought.
Been a long time since I was in J hole, spent a couple of weeks fishing the snake. Must be a hard deal to have to live there ;-)

[Nicks Pics]

This owl has been hanging out in the same region all summer. People are traveling from far away to see and photograph it. Last winter I was in Misssoula Mt. and found a Great Gray. There was a man from Seattle who had driven to Missoula because he heard the owl was there.

Funny what some birders will do. This owl seems to be at the southern end of it's range in WY, based on range maps.

[NorthernFocus]

Congrats on the owl capture. I love the area where you live. Post-retirement we will likely spend a good bit of time in that area. Please keep the owl staked out for us