Get the good light while you can because all too often it’s fleeting.
Veteran blog readers may have seen a couple of photos of this little charmer in the past but today I’m using two shots of “him” that are new to Feathered Photography.
Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in
I took this photo of a recently fledged Short-eared Owl chick four years ago in Box Elder County. He was perched atop an old tumbleweed that had been caught along the edge of a remote road. His sibling was perched about 4′ out of frame to the right. Here he’s parallaxing in my direction as he’s trying to analyze that big silver pickup directly in front of him.
He was very close to the road edge so I had no choice but to pass by much closer to him than I normally would which accounts for why he’s so tight in the frame, even with my teleconverter removed. Normally I prefer to give my subjects more room – both physically and in the frame.
This photo was taken very soon after dawn so the light is warm and wonderful. For a variety of reasons I always at least try to do the majority of my bird photography with the sun low in the sky and warm light is at or near the top of that list.
But warm light isn’t guaranteed just because it’s early morning or late evening. Light quality can change in an instant for reasons unrelated to sun position.
Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in
This photo of the same bird was taken less than three minutes after the previous one. I’d lost the warm light quickly when high clouds moved in and began to filter the light into much cooler tones that I find considerably less appealing. At least to some degree light quality is a matter of taste but I’d venture to say that most folks prefer warm light in most (though not all) situations and I’m definitely one of them.
In fact when the light changed I stopped taking as many photos of the owls because I knew I already had others that I’d like better. The only time I continued to snap away in this cooler light was when the owls struck interesting poses or something else of special interest occurred. In this case it was the house fly that landed on the youngster’s belly.
So for some folks this second photo might have two strikes against it – cooler light and the intrusive presence of a house fly. After all, Musca domestica doesn’t have a lot of fans out there.
Personally I find the fly interesting and I don’t mind the cooler light, I just prefer the warmer tones. If you’re a photographer with the same preference you’d best use the warm light while you can because it can vanish in an instant.
Ron
Notes:
- Yes, I was worried about the presence of such very young owls so close to the road but in this case it was difficult to determine the best course of action. I was hesitant to interfere with them and the road was remote in early morning with virtually no traffic so I took a chance and left them undisturbed. When I returned to the same spot later in the morning both fledglings were gone. And presumably safe.
- My image techs this morning are incomplete, by design. They were highly inappropriate for the situation and I’m embarrassed by them so I didn’t include them. They wouldn’t help anyone anyway. My (lame) excuse is that I was so excited to see the chicks I just forgot to check my settings which is something I very rarely do any more. Buck Fever I guess…
Wonderful Ron! Thhanks for sharng!
Charlotte
Thanks Ron. I appreciate your responses. One a teacher, always a teacher. I learn (although slowly) from your examples.
And I appreciate your eagerness to learn, Dan. Teachers always do… 🙂
Such a little beauty, fly-adorned and otherwise! (But I think as insects go, I prefer yesterday’s ant on the hummer’s bill better. 😉)
I probably prefer the ant’s too, Chris. But I still like the fly…
No. 1
I’m golden and curious,
Who the heck are you?
I can tilt my head, thus,
but might hurt if you do.
No. 2
In the harsh light of day
I’m still dignified,
Just ignore the fly,
‘Twil be gone by and by,
Self-isolation is taking its toll🤪
Ha, we do what we have to do to survive, Lyle… 🙂
😂 perhaps taking a toll on you, but providing welcome comic relief for others!
Of course I love BOTH of them, while seeing and understanding your lesser love for the second.
For my totally owl deprived self an owl in any light lifts my spirits. As it has this morning some hours before sunrise.
Megathanks.
Sounds like you have the night in common with owls, EC. Thank you.
I like to think that – and like to think of sharing my ever so socially distant space with them – and would also love to see them.
If you had posted the second shot as a standalone, I would have been quite content — fly and all. 🙂 The warmer light adds an almost tactile-level of richness to the first shot that enhances all the colors, owl and background grasses included.
Hope you’re out with your camera enjoying a beautiful spring morning!
Marty, your first paragraph summarizes how I feel about the first photo perfectly.
Yup, I was out shooting all morning. And it certainly was a beautiful spring morning, except for lack of luck with birds.
Both are gorgeous. The second one show’s the bird’s dark mask in a way I’ve never seen before.
Sallie, the faces of young Short-eared Owls tend to my significantly darker than they are in adults. If I remember correctly this bird’s sibling had an even darker face.
These have always been some of my favorite photos you have taken.
Good. They’re some of my favorites also. Thanks, April.
For birds and wildlife, I reckon my druthers would be lighting, behavior and setting, in that order.
As you point out, without the right light a photograph may be interesting but not “outstanding”. Usually.
Wonderful images, Ron. I like the one with the fly, too.
“Usually”
Ha, I see you’ve learned what I have, Wally. Almost never say never, especially on a public forum. Someone is likely to challenge you for over it with a teeny, tiny exception… 🙂
I REALLY LIKED the owl-to-frame ratio in the first image……”charmer”,
indeed ! Wish I understood what is so endearing in the parallax ( in an
owl) and the quirky head-twist in a dog but they are both so winning……
Thanks for a charming wake-up this morning !
“! Wish I understood what is so endearing in the parallax”
I agree, it’s funny how we react to an owl parallaxing.. But we almost universally find it adorable.
Yeah, I’m a sucker for that warm light, too. The setting sun makes the reds of a gorgeous redtail POP to the point that I’ve just had to stop and luxuriate in its beauty. Of course, that always annoyed Mariah. There were reasons she kept me around and stopping to gawk at her beauty was NOT among them! Just FYI, it’s never a good idea to annoy a redtail–just sayin’! 😉
But while I love that warm light and it’s my favorite, I’m not real fussy, either. That said, I really don’t like midday sun. It’s too harsh for these old eyes.
And what a charmer indeed! I’ve always been a sucker for that upside-down head thing even if it’s only halfway there. And flies happen. I hate it when they do, but they do.
Funny on the retail – unless, of course, you’re the one who annoyed it! 🙂
Laura, I don’t even like what the midday sun does to the landscape, much less what it does to birds and other critters. By about 10 AM I nearly always holster my shutter finger.
The first one is outstanding. The light is perfect and the owl’s pose is also perfect. The colors are beautiful. Don’t think this one could be topped. Love the way he’s checking out that truck and the suspicious looking guy in it. 🙂
Thank you, Everett.
Awww 🙂 LOVE the young owls as always! 🙂 Yes, lighting can/does change in a heartbeat for better or worse. 😉 Sunrise/sunsets come to mind… Fly obviously doesn’t bother the owl……
Nothing has returned to the tree the dog fell out of since that first evening. When farming “slows” Harvey may investigate further. 😉
Thanks, Judy. Let me know what Harvey eventually finds out, if anything.
Oh my, my heart is still palpitating! 😍 What ever the settings…these are beautiful…even with the fly present. That face just draws you in. Thank you this post today!
Thanks very much, Kathy.
Ron, I enjoyed these images as always. But you are a teacher. How can we learn without the image techs? I’m pretty sure you’ve grown from the experience and I’d like to know how you made these photos “work” despite your settings, or at least what you might have done differently. Please……
Dan, well, since ya put it that way… 1/6400, f/7.1, ISO 800 for the first shot. That’s the one that hurt the most.
See, that wasn’t so bad, wasn’t it? Thanks much. With the benefit of hindsight, what would you have begun your settings at if you could go back in time to that same spot. I recognize that the lighting was changing by the minute but wonder what you would do now.
I’d probably begin at about ISO 400 and f/9 and see what SS I got. I was very close to the owl and shooting downward so even though his head is sharp his lower body is a little soft – which became more evident when I tried to zoom in on the fly. It was noticeably, though not drastically, soft.