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Great Gray Owl
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Great Gray Owl



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upload_dateFeb, 2016

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16 Comments |
kannankarpagam
 
kannankarpagam February 08, 2016
right on time
patriciarustin PRO
 
patriciarustin April 05, 2016
I Love this image! Do you have a duplicate that is cropped closer ?
LLPell
 
LLPell April 20, 2016
What a spectacular capture!
veganbaby
 
veganbaby April 20, 2016
Beautiful!
allanthemofmanhamilton
 
allanthemofmanhamilton April 20, 2016
So dramatic! Even suspenseful!
PENDRAG0N
 
PENDRAG0N April 20, 2016
Wow! Magnificent!
ovosphotography
 
ovosphotography May 05, 2016
well done!
KatjaBz
 
KatjaBz May 18, 2016
awesome!! love it!!
whoisankit
 
whoisankit June 23, 2016
nice
Harleyfan
 
Harleyfan August 17, 2016
Absolutely love this shot!
JulieMarek
 
JulieMarek September 08, 2016
This is really exceptional!
Byronfairphotography PRO+
 
Byronfairphotography October 13, 2016
Beautiful
KytaBeez
 
KytaBeez January 13, 2017
wow!!
Bogiebroph
 
Bogiebroph January 13, 2017
Super Shot! It still amazes me when I see how these large creatures can perch on such small limbs and twigs. Great piece of work here. Congrats!
Lauriefh Ultimate
 
Lauriefh January 13, 2017
amazing picture.
samanthaowens
 
samanthaowens January 15, 2017
Wow amazing

Submitted to Photo Contests

Tags

#owl #owls #bird #birds #minnesota #sax zim bog #Great Gray owl #nature #nature photography #wildlife #wildlife photography
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Behind The Lens

Location

This photo was taken at Sax Zim Bog in Northern Minnesota.

Time

This image was shot fairly early in the morning. It was unforgettable. It was -12 degrees out, and I can vividly walking out the door of our modest hotel and thinking....nope! But after getting some coffee in and gearing up for the weather, it was much more bearable.

Lighting

Lighting can get pretty tricky when you're surrounded by snow. When shooting wildlife in the snow, I like to have a nice cloudy day. The clouds obscure the sun, and I can get that beautiful, even lighting. Best advice...watch the histogram for issues with highlights when shooting in snow. Everyone hates a blown out image!

Equipment

I shot this with a Canon 6D and Tamron 150-600mm VC lens on a cheap amazon tripod.

Inspiration

This is so far my favorite story of my wildlife photography career so far. My Dad and I are pretty much inseparable when it comes to getting out into the wilderness and finding wildlife. We started out as Birders before really getting into photography, and we're still very much involved in that field. There is a birding movie named "The Big Year" and in that movie, Jack Black's character (the amazing real life Greg Miller!) and his father venture out into the woods to find a Great Gray Owl. After some emotional searching, he rounds a corner to find his father standing up, looking at the Owl. That scene really hit me hard, and it instantly became a bucket list item. A couple years later, we drove over 900 miles one way with a friend to go find this magnificent bird, and we achieved our goal in the most magnificent way!

Editing

I did do processing in post, as all my images are made in RAW format. Fairly simplistic. Increases in contrast and clarity to bring out the detail in it's feathers, and exposure increases around the edges of the photo to really bring the viewers eyes in to the Owl.

In my camera bag

My bag now always include a few must haves. Bodies include a Canon 6D and Canon 7D Mark ii. Having the ability to shoot full frame or crop is paramount for me. I love options! Also with me is my Tamron 150-600mm VC, Tamron 24-70mm VC, and Canon 50mm f/1.4. That covers the gamut pretty well, and I always travel with my Lee Big Stopper as well, as I've become kind of a nut for long exposure shooting!

Feedback

Patience. Paaaatience!!! I stood on the roadside with a group of 8-10 other people, all but one with superior camera gear to my own. It took two hours of watching this bird move, following it's patterns. I positioned myself 50-70 feet down the road from the group, which had gathered right in front of the Owl. Shortly after that, it flew right to the perch I thought it was going to land on, and gave me this menacing look as he landed! My hands were completely numb, and I had to check regularly to make sure my finger was on the trigger button, but man, was it worth it!

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