The apprentice gardener

[Steve Kaluski]

Well the owlets have all now fledged, but all three as you can see, are doing extremely well and all have survived. A testimony to the parents and the good rich food source within the location. This particular area by the nest site is full of nettles and shortish grass which I had been clearing an area for myself, plus I forked some of the soil in the hope of disturbing some bugs, beetles and earthworms for the family. As you can see, my efforts we not in vein, they soon came down to investigate.

Since uploading this I have toned down the slightly brighter grass stem running parallel with the fork on the RHS, small but just caught my eye.

Steve
Subject: Little owlet sitting on fork within a nettle patch (Athene noctua)
Location: UK
Camera: Canon 1DX
Lens: 500f/4
Exposure: 1/400s at f/9 ISO400 0 stop compensation

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Steve, this rocks!. I love the unusual story the owls expression and the comp

[Randy Stout]

Steve:

Agree with Cheryl, a very cute story, and he really does look like he is seeing what the 'gardener' turned up for him.

I like the rusty/texture of the turning fork and the slight angle of it in the frame.

Cheers

Randy

[gail bisson]

There is something very "British " about this image.
I love the textures of feather and rusty pitchfork.
IQ is excellent. The pose and the way the wing sweeps over the handle and the angle of the handle adds some nice lines.
I wonder if you have more room down below to include more of the tines of the pitchfork and more room for the owlet to look into?
If not against your ethics I would clone out the white stuff on the handle and the ? white droppings on leaf
A really lovely and different image. Well done,
Gail

[Richard Stern]

I agree with Gail's comments. Also, the owl seems to have a rather 3-D look to it - you could almost get your hands around it in the image. Love it. Richard

[Robert Holguin]

This is a wonderful image.
Love the comp and perch.
Very well done.

[John Chardine]

I can see this on the front cover of Gardener's World magazine Steve! This is a clever and attractive image. Love the look-back of the fledging- something obviously caught his attention in the surrounding veg. The fork has great patina and looks great in the image. I would maybe clean up the little light spots on the shaft for a magazine cover.

PS when I lived in Somerset as a boy I vividly remember finding Little Owl nests in coppiced willow trees. It was a huge thrill.

[Loi Nguyen]

Steve, good to see you posting here. This is a very cute image and the techs are great, sharp and with great details. I find the colors of the owl is just a bit on the cool side relative to the Burrowing Owls we have here in the US. Ours are a bit more brown. Loi

[Jamie Douglas]

So this is the little fella you were talking about who was modeling the garden fork. The image has a really nice relaxed and natural feel about it and superb detail. I will admit that my first thoughts were that the eye looked a little cool. I goggled the species but the online archive images vary and I am not sure if it comes down to Brits being pasty compared to their North American tanned cousins?

[Gabriela Plesea]

Dear Steve, I am convinced you've taken the time to train these little owlets to pose for you
I am drawn to the eye, talons and sharp claws and I love the "attitude" from the owlet - coy yet teasing at the same time Absolutely delightful, and I take it you had great fun photographing these cute little models! The subject and its very unusual perch stand out beautifully against the background and such a well balanced image when it comes to the crop. Unlike some of my images, yours seem to have gone through very little or no PP work at all, I just realised how much I still have to learn from you

Warmest regards,

[Andre Pretorius]

Tech spot on, as always. Like the crop, and the pose of owl-he/she peering over shoulder, just heard something behind him. The droppings on right suggest a previous visit to the fork perch, it must stay. You captured this @ F9- did you blur the BG more?