My friend - owl

[Prathapan Ramachandran]

This one used to visit the tree nearby my home. I set up camera and waited and that day he doesn't appear. Next day he kept his time i was there ready for the shoot. Used cree LED flash light for lighting. ISO800/1/20 sec. on tripod/f3.5/EOS60D/Takumar135mm.

[Rajan Kanagasabai]

Beautiful. Hard work really pays off.

The noise is understandable with the kind of lighting, high ISO and the extremely low shutter speed.

Nice off centered composition and brilliant eye contact (almost like candy balls popping out).

Thanks for sharing and happy Diwali.

regards
Rajan

[Shyamala Kumar]

The eyes look like cherries on custard!.Unique and unusual imagery.TFS

[Prathapan Ramachandran]

Thanks for comment Rajan..yeah you are right it is low key lighting and the High iso noise red. is in low setting and it is not an HR lens.
Thanks Shyamala Kumar, they are extra powerful.
Happy Diwali to both of you.

[Bibhav Behera]

The eyes look beautiful. This is the Brown Hawk Owl (Ninox scutulata)
Thanks for sharing.

[Prathapan Ramachandran]

Thanks Mr. Bibhav Behera for identifying the bird. I was actually not aware of its generic name and species. Thanks a lot.

[Roopak Gangadharan]

Hi prathapan,

Nice to see a Brown hawk owl. where in kerala did u shoot this? My personal opinion is that it is not ethically right to use a flash on nocturnal animals. It is believed to cause temporary blindness for 15-30 minutes in owls. Flash light directed at spot just below/ above the subject might be more advisable for night photography. If the bird is a regular visitor to your garden try recording the call of this bird on your mobile it goes something like HOOWUUP HOOWUUP... there is a section for nature sounds where you can post that. Will help people relate the call to the bird.

[Prathapan Ramachandran]

Hi Roopak Gangadharan, Thanks a lot for your comments. I shoot this at Alleppey Dist, Kerala. Exact Geotag is in my NATGEO page. (http://yourshot.nationalgeographic.com/photos/1967333/) I fell happy to mention that it was a torch light slightly diffused with gateway and it is in a low angle means not in the camera axis - the subject's look point.(pls see the shadow on the bg.) I 'm grateful to you for passing the info about the temporary blindness character in owls. Again happy to say I have the HD footage and recordings of calls- in 16/48 broadcast quality, recorded using senn: ME66. One can record in this quality using a portable digital recorder or if want to use mobile prefer iphone4+ and rod ixy mic -24bit96KHz- or in case of xlr shotgun use 'irig' preamp from IK multimedia. Sure I will post the sound there. Nice meeting you.

[Roopak Gangadharan]

Parthapan, I guess i missed the initial post which clearly says you used a flashlight. sorry about that. In any case you did the right thing.:thumbup1:
Just got to know from your intro that you are a professional cinematographer so i suppose you will have no shortage of quality equipment for sound recordings :) ... will be nice to hear the sounds you have recorded, including the hawk owl call.

Rgds
Roopak

[Sabyasachi Patra]

I agree with Roopak that a photographic flash light causes momentary blindness. However continuous lights like the one used here helps the subject get accustomed as the pupils get adjusted to the light.

In the night normally the ambient noise levels are down. So it becomes easier to record the loud call of the owl. Sennheiser ME 66/K6 is a relatively cheaper shotgun microphone for recording distant sounds. Good to know that you record the sounds as well. That would help people identify subjects based on their vocalisations.

[Prathapan Ramachandran]

Thanks for your viewpoints sir. It is budget that constrain. I might have procured a 'Schoeps' if I had funds in plenty. There is some ambient noise in the recordings cos some marshy places around, producing lot hi freq cicadas/frogs etc. The noise floor was also not comfortable and the original source was distant too, think a telinga amberwood may work good but not yet used it as one man army. Thanks again. Prathapan.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

In our forests due to the moisture levels the Schoeps microphones won't work well. There are reports from people use Schoeps in Amazon rainforests and suffering, as the microphone died due to moisture. The Sennheiser microphones are designed to withstand moisture. I agree that it is tough to use the Telinga while filming as a one man band. :)