these two photos are excellent examples of a of a photographic principle I’d like to demonstrate with today’s post – the dramatic differences between warm and cool light.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nBoth of these Great Horned Owl images were taken\u00a0on the Montana\u00a0farm where I grew up as the birds were resting in the auger cutouts of old granaries built by my grandfather, uncle and father back in the early 1930’s. Those granaries haven’t been used or maintained\u00a0for decades but they’re part of our family history and we’re all very fond of them, as are the owls who have lived in them for many\u00a0years.<\/p>\n
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1\/2000, f\/8, ISO 500, Canon 40D, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\nThis is one of the adult GHO’s that has raised chicks in those granaries for about 20 years that I know of (they have a life span of up to 28 years). This image was taken in late May at 2:25 PM so the sun is high and the\u00a0light is harsh and cool. The wood appears gray and the warm colors of the bird are washed out by the bright light and the high angle of the sun. I’m not saying that’s necessarily all bad (I do like the photo) but that kind of light definitely affects the image.<\/p>\n
Notice that with the sun high in the sky there’s no light in the eyes. Their bright color is the only thing that saves the day – if the eyes of this species were dark (like the pupils)\u00a0they would be photon traps that would appear only as black pits.<\/p>\n
Also notice the difference in pupil size – the left one is more than twice as large as the right one. That surprised me because the left side of the owl is the brightest so it would seem logical that the left pupil would be the smallest. It does seem slightly misshapen so maybe it’s a “blown” eye.<\/p>\n
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![\"great](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/great-horned-owl-5676-ron-dudley.jpg\")
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1\/250, f\/7.1, ISO 250, Canon 7D, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\nThis is a juvenile Great Horned Owl and one of the offspring of the adult in the first image. At this stage the young birds haven’t yet developed their “horns” (ear tufts). The “spikiness” of its head is partially due to the fact that it is wet from morning dew.<\/p>\n
The image was taken at 6:07 AM, exactly 1\/2 hour after sunrise, so the light on the bird and the old wood is very warm. The colors of the wood in both granaries\u00a0are almost exactly the same in similar light but if you scroll between the two images you’ll see just how dramatically different those colors\u00a0can be\u00a0in varying light.<\/p>\n
This last\u00a0photo has always been one of my favorite Great Horned Owl images and the warm light is a big part of the reason why.<\/p>\n
Ron<\/p>\n
Notes:<\/em><\/p>\n\n- Whenever I see one of these photos that shows the nails in the granaries I always wonder who\u00a0hammered them in – my grandfather, my uncle or my father (dad would have been a young teenager at the time).<\/em><\/li>\n
- Some may wonder how I knew exactly when the sun rose on June 23, 2010 (the date the second image was taken). Google is amazing.\u00a0All you have to do is type in a sentence like this – “When did the sun rise on June 23, 2010 in Cut Bank, Montana” as your search term and Google comes up with the answer. Maybe I’m easily impressed…<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Both of these Great Horned Owl images were taken on the Montana farm where I grew up as the birds were resting in the auger cutouts of old granaries built by my grandfather, uncle and father back in the early 1930’s.<\/p>\n
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