Burrowing Owls - Cape Coral, FL - March 08

[Anthony Healy]

These owls were the first two that we found on our first trip to Cape Coral. Fellow BPN member, Jakob Jorgensen and I had just struck out at Corkscrew, so on a tip from the "Birds as Art" bulletin, we used the GPS and made our way to Cape Coral as we were staying in Fort Myers that night.

The locals don't seem happy to see us Photogs sitting in their fields. We had many things thrown at us from passing motorists and were even yelled at and called "Owl Loving Hippies"!!! A phrase that has stayed with us. We're thinking of making t-shirts.

This was caught with the last light climbing up the owl in the foreground. This shot was iso 4oo, 550mm on a Nikon D200 with a 200-400 VR with 1.4x. It was shot at f/8 for a little d.o.f. for the owl on the right to stay in focus at about 1/250.

The bulletin saved the day, considering how dry Corkscrew was!

[Doug Brown]

I love burrowing owls. This image has a lot going for it, including the eye contact, sharpness, and BG. I would brighten up the owl on the left a bit. I'm not sure how I feel about the OOF mound in the foreground. I guess if you want to keep the second owl in the photo, you don't have much choice.

[Kaushik Balakumar]

:) interesting frame. i almost missed seeing the other owl on the right side...
wish the BG was a little more plain...

[Daniel Cadieux]

This photograph has alot of character. I'm not sure about the creeping shadow, but it does evoke an end of day feeling. To me the second owl is a very important element of this image...I just wish both eyes were equally visible :-)

[Raymond Barlow]

Tony, this is a killer shot, the light, composition, and detail are excellent, and the fact that the right side owl is hiding and one eye is slightly covered makes this the best burrowing owl shot I have seen this winter., awesome.

[Raymond Barlow]

ps... I would buy a tshirt!

[Chris Dodds]

I think this one had huge potential, but the shadow that crept into the foreground has spoiled it for me. All that said, did you try raising your camera a little? I think having a bit more of the owl on the right would make this one more powerful.

[Anthony Healy]

Thank you all for your comments. Not much I can do with the background, had to close down in order to get both birds in focus and keep some dof.
Raymond,
You hit it right on the nail. I have many shots of these two owls, but the reason I shared this was the one eye, to me, it's powerful. It describes the birds' apprehension to come out from behind the mound. It's meant to be a shot which shows the environment as well as the bird. When I saw the one eye, I snapped. As far as the creeping shadow... they were both waiting for that sun to go down, before coming out. It helped me describe the scene.

T-shirts will be available thru the "owl loving hippies" foundation. (just kidding...)

[Raymond Barlow]

Thank you all for your comments. Not much I can do with the background, had to close down in order to get both birds in focus and keep some dof.
Raymond,
You hit it right on the nail. I have many shots of these two owls, but the reason I shared this was the one eye, to me, it's powerful. It describes the birds' apprehension to come out from behind the mound. It's meant to be a shot which shows the environment as well as the bird. When I saw the one eye, I snapped. As far as the creeping shadow... they were both waiting for that sun to go down, before coming out. It helped me describe the scene.

T-shirts will be available thru the "owl loving hippies" foundation. (just kidding...)

Indeed., once again fantastic image., and I still think that is a great idea for the t-shirt!!