Birds in Nature - images of wild birds by Richard Ditch

Subject: Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia)
Place: Maricopa, AZ, USA
Date: April 2002
Equipment: Nikon N90S, Nikkor AF-S 300/2.8 & TC20E (= 600/5.6), monopod from car window
Film: Fujichrome Sensia 100
Exposure: Aperture priority matrix metered
Scan: Minolta Dimage, 92% of frame (slight crop left and right)

Commentary: One of the fascinating things about this group of Burrowing Owls was the degree of variation in the plumage of the birds. This bird showed more white than most, and also seemed more tolerant of my car and camera just feet away.

The darker corners of the image are barely noticeable on the slide, and are an indication of very slight vignetting by the 2x converter when this lens is used wide open. A uniform background (especially plain sky) will show a slight darkening in the corners. This gets exaggerated by the optics in my scanner, and even more by gamma adjustment of the scan in Photo Shop when I try to match the colors and contrasts of the slide.