Burrowing Owl On A Boulder Perch

Six days ago on Antelope Island as I rounded a curve in the road I encountered this Burrowing Owl on a large rock with a clean setting and background. It was a cool morning and the sun had only recently come up so this bird was obviously enjoying the warming rays and showed no nervousness as I approached.

Continue reading

Friends

I’m normally not one to wax sentimental. I do have those feelings of course but I don’t often express them. Not nearly as often as I should. The Christmas season gives me an excuse…

Continue reading

Finally! – Another Antelope Island Burrowing Owl

It’s been a tough summer for me with Burrowing Owls. Normally I spend a lot of time photographing them but this year they’ve been mostly uncooperative to the extreme – too skittish, too far away, too buried in vegetation and too scarce.

But I had a pleasant surprise two days ago on Antelope Island.

Continue reading

Burrowing Owl In Dramatic Side Light

As every photographer knows, light angle can make or break an image. In static portrait shots especially, partial side lighting (at perhaps 45 degrees to your subject) emphasizes texture, patterns and shapes and helps to separate subject from background. It’s been said that side light “sculpts” your subject.

Continue reading

Three Burrowing Owls and More Challenges With Depth Of Field

I’d been photographing a family of these birds for several weeks but typical of the species they were usually on the ground with obstructing vegetation in front of them or buried too deeply in the sagebrush. But as I approached them on this early August morning (in my pickup, from the road) there were two juveniles and one adult perched high on the sagebrush in nice warm light and there was a clean, pleasing background. My little heart went pit-a-pat at the opportunity but then I had to deal with the harsh reality of depth of field.

Continue reading