Strix varia up close and personal
Mother Barred Owl
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I consider myself fortunate to own a home on the border of a protected forest and wetland area. Each year, a Barred Owl pair uses the thick forest as a nesting site. One of my spring goals was to photograph this year's owl family within their natural habitat. I wasn't interested in producing more typical portrait shots of these birds, isolated on immaculate perches, shot from a comfortable distance with a 500mm lens. I'd shot only a handful of images that way this year. Rather, I wanted to create intimate photos of the family within their natural surroundings, which are dense, chaotic, and often dimly lit. I wanted to experience my subjects up close and personal.
To create these images, I made use of a Canon 40D and Canon 70-200 f/4L IS. Shooting was done from ISO 400 to ISO 800. Shutter speeds rarely rose above 1/100s, yet my images remained very sharp with good hand-holding technique. Canon's image stabilization technology works wonders and I found myself using a monopod sparingly.
My working distance from the birds was always under 20 feet and often times under 10 feet, always dependent on the attitude of the birds. I relied primarily on natural lighting that was often quite scarce and scattered. If I had to do one thing differently, I would have opted for a 70-200 f/2.8, though I had purchased the f/4 last year in favor of its size and weight.
These owls are difficult to expose properly. Sometimes, their feathers throw a bit of glare. I received some advice suggesting that I try using one of my Singh-Ray polarizers to control this problem. My initial reaction was, "What?! A polarizer in the woods?! I'm already shooting at 1/80s... there's no way."
Then again, it could work.
The thing about the LB Warming Polarizer is that it consumes only 1-1/3 stops of light. I found myself shooting at around 1/60s in darkest areas of the forest. With image stabilization, this was a breeze. My images of the owls were immediately more saturated and defined, while the warming effect of the polarizer also counteracted the cool light temperature of the shaded forest. I discovered an added bonus. The large eyes of these owls polarize well. I was able to avoid glare and red-eye while still maintaining a catch light. The thought hadn't even crossed my mind. I'll definitely be using this technique more often.
Getting more things right "in camera" pleases me greatly. Armed with this new technique for better exposure, I was able to spend less time fiddling with camera settings and post-processings and more time studying my subjects.
Barred Owl Chick
I was having a hard time controlling the bright plumage of this young owl. The eyes were also showing a bit of purple from -2EV popup flash, which I had to correct in Photoshop. I would later use my Singh-Ray LB Wa
rming Polarizer to control both situations.
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I watched as the mother went off into the woods in search of food. The young wood call out every few minutes with a raspy hiss. An adult would respond somewhere off in the dense forest. This game of "marco polo" kept the family in touch, calming the chicks.
When the mother made a kill, she would sound a series of hoots. The chicks would take flight to meet her as fast as their wings could carry them.
These chicks may not have been ready to hunt or feed on their own, but they had no problem tearing apart their prey. I watched as the mother brought a large mole to her young. The meal was gone in minutes, nothing left but a few tufts of hair that had fallen to the forest floor. Nesting material for the Winter Wren. Nothing is wasted.
After a meal proved to be the best time for creating intimate protraits of the chicks. Satiated with mole, they would preen their feathers and nap. My presence was of little importance to them.
Barred Owl Sillouhette
I used my Singh-Ray LB Warming Polarizer to darken the blue sky, giving the impression of dusk. In actuality, the time was just before 6:00pm.
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Soon they would demand more food. The mother hunted around the clock. She learned to eat a little bit of her prey before sounding a feeding call.
The young owls would move throughout the forest to avoid the sun as it travelled across the sky. I learned to know where they would be based on the time. This method proved quite reliable.
Birds were another helpful indicator for locating the owls. The Rofous-sided Towhee will defend its nest fiercly. Where I found a pair of them shrieking and darting, the mother owl was sure to be nearby.
Crows have a particular distaste for Barred Owls, since they will use a crow's nest as their own. Follow the sound of angry crows and you're almost certain to find the owls.
Not only was I enjoying photographing this family of birds, I was also learning much about them.
Respect your subject
I should note that these owls have become very comfortable with my presence. The adults have returned to this nesting site for at least three years and allow me a very close approach. However, this is the first year I would attempt to photograph the chicks. As it turns out, their behavior did not change much and the chicks turned out to be extremely curious of me.
If you intend on placing yourself into a situation like this, you must measure the comfort level of the subjects. Causing undue stress to a mother and her chicks can endanger their chance of survival. Put the safety of your subject before the shot.
Enormous eyes
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Peek-a-boo!
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