owl's eye
An award winning photo revisioned to emphasize the piercing nature of its gaze
An award winning photo revisioned to emphasize the piercing nature of its gaze
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Aug, 2015Views
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
My mission is just as much to illustrate the beauty of birds, as to be their advocate. I also emphasize advocating for their human champions, who rescue them, and educate others towards being better stewards. For this shot, I was very lucky to be able to drive just two hours to the International Festival of Owls in Houston, Minnesota. The parent organization takes care of several owls as ambassadors, but also hosts the International Owl Festival in March, where they bring in professionals to perform live owl shows and educate the public. These folks are not only huge advocates for nature and wildlife but also great people.Time
This photo was taken in the mid-afternoon, but indoors! I was lucky to have very good light streaming in from a window. The challenge was not to disturb the owl, and to navigate the throngs of spectators at the festival. Dealing with manmade- backgrounds can be challenging. I was lucky this zoom-in is superb.Lighting
The tough part wasn't the lighting. The tough part was having the owl sit still long enough to take quality pictures at shutter speeds that would give me the best 'information'. This is an HDR photo, which are quite the challenge to take with wildlife. Especially birds who turn their heads quickly and often to survey their environment. That's the trick with taking portraits of wildlife, anticipating and working the shot. Part of it is understanding the bird's behavior. The other part is understanding your behavior, as the photographer. I've developed specific techniques that help me capture birds at their best, and at some point I hope i have the opportunity to share them.Equipment
I almost always have a Canon T2i or T3i with me, often both together, and rely heavily on my 50-250 mm zoom lens. I did use a flash for this shot, but do not generally use tripods to catch pictures of birds in action. This goes double for situations where I'm at a public event or a zoo, where tripods could pose a hazard to pedestrians. Instead, I've developed techniques for maximizing my time photographing birds. I enjoy the technical challenges associated with raptor photography!Inspiration
I love raptors. Owls have recently shown up in my life, thanks to proximity to what I've heard described as the hotspot for snowy owls in the continental US. We have plenty of farmland, which looks like open tundra to them. My location also boasts the highest density of bald eagles per capita in the continental US, termed the great Mississippi Flyway, and I also have access to great horned owls, barred owls, golden eagles, a plethora of hawk species, as well as osprey. At the International Owl Festival, to talk about this picture specifically, I found a very willing subject in this owl, Ruby, whose gaze was captivating. Her story is cool. http://internationalowlcenter.org/ourowls/ruby-and-rupertEditing
Great horned owls are dramatic subjects. I desaturated the brown tones a bit, keeping the intensity of the colors associated with her eye. This draws attention to her captivating gaze, and works with the stereotype of owls as having super-focus and being great thinkers, a feeling for the photo that I was deliberately trying to capture. This is an HDR photo, I've developed special techniques to be able to capture HDR of fidgety birds, including a variation on stealth photography.In my camera bag
I have a Canon T2i and T3i. A 50-250mm zoom lens and a 400 prime lens are invaluable for close in bird shots. But what's more important are the extra items that make a good bird shoot. I've found polarizing lenses to be invaluable for capturing photos of birds.Feedback
I have three imperatives for avian aficionados, who are taking photos. First, get out often, where the birds are, and be open-minded in terms of what might be out there for you. This photograph was taken at a bird sanctuary, for example. Second, invest in two pieces of long glass that give you good reach and can be hand-held. Third, if you want to try HDR photos of birds, I'd recommend studying HDR in general (which I've been doing lately) and then asking yourself, are there ways of customizing HDR techniques for the avian environment? I'm hoping to put out a primer on the use of HDR in raptor photography, as soon as I collect and process a few more examples.
