4955 Great Horned Owl

Artist: Brian P. Bower;
Exposure Date: 2009:08:30 09:41:13;
ImageDescription: I was amazed to see this Great Horned Owl perched on such an open branch. For over an hour, I stayed in my truck photographing this normally reclusive night hunter with my camera secured to my Kirk window mount. Equipment used was the Canon 600mm F4 IS lens with combined 1.4 and 2x converters. I also used the Canon 580 EX flash mounted on a modified wimberley flash bracket and Better Beamer flash extender. The camera used was the Canon 50D, which allowed me to use its live view function to focus manually. This was neccessary since autofocus stops working beyond F5.6 apertures, and with combined teleconverters, my effective aperture was at F11. The resulting lens magnification was 2688mm or 53.76x. This was accomplished with the 600mm lens, 1.4 and 2x converters combined, and the 60% crop factor of the 50D body. Image stabilization in the lens was critical along with an electronic shutter release.;
Copyright: ©Brian P. Bower All Rights Reserved,Usage rights transferred only upon payment;
Make: Canon;
Model: Canon EOS 50D;
ExposureTime: 1/100 s;
FNumber: f/11;
ISOSpeedRatings: 640;
ExposureProgram: Manual;
ExposureBiasValue: 0/1;
MeteringMode: Pattern;
Flash: Flash fired, compulsory flash mode;
FocalLength: 1200 mm;
Software: Adobe Photoshop CS3 Windows;