An Unusual Encounter

Upon arriving at Big Meadows daylight was just beginning to lighten the leaden sky. We parked at a pull-off a little south of the visitor’s center to await better photographic light. After sitting there for a few minutes I noticed a large owl swoop into a tree and perch out of sight. As the morning slowly brightened the owl moved numerous times until it came to rest on a snag nearby.

We began shooting although the light level was extremely low. I was shooting the Canon 100-400 F5.6 lens and even with the ISO set to 1600 I could only achieve a 1/15th shutterspeed. Soon the owl moved again and I followed unsure if the photographs I had taken were sufficiently sharp.

The Barred Owl allowed me to follow it around with camera and tripod as long as I maintained a distance of 15 – 20 yards. At one point it even launched a successful attack capturing some small prey animal along the roadside and eating it in only a few bites.

This game continued until the day brightened sufficiently for me to attain the 1/60th shutter speed at ISO 500 used to capture this image. I felt certain by this time that I had captured images of acceptable sharpness and left the Owl to continue its hunt in peace.