An Expectant Mother's Watchful Gaze

[Doug Brown]

Miguel and I went out investigate a GHO nest on a nearby school campus on Saturday morning. There was an owl on the nest and another in a nearby tree, but we discovered that it wasn't a morning shoot. I remembered another nest that I photographed 6 years ago and suggested that we pay that one a visit. The only problem was that I wasn't sure I remembered how to get to it, and I had no idea if there would be an owl on the nest. A 30 minute car ride later we located the nest, which is a crevice in a cliff about 25 feet off the ground. Miguel took a scout frame from a distance and confirmed that there was an owl sitting in there. We unloaded our gear and began to photograph. Such a magnificent bird!

Canon 1Dx, 600 mm II + 1.4x III, f/6.3, 1/500, ISO 3200, manual exposure, hand held

[Marina Scarr]

Love this cavity, and you did a great job with your comp and conveying your title. Needless to say, I am green with envy.

[Satish Ranadive]

Magnificent image of beautiful lady with very nice expressions. Great habitat, nice colour pallet and wonderful composition.
Love the frame, Doug Sir.

Regards,
Satish.

[Geoffrey Montagu]

I'm glad you found the nest after being there 6 years before. What a beautiful owl, and love the straight on eye contact. All the colors, textures, and light are wonderful. Great capture, Doug.




Geoffrey

[keith mitchell]

Never seen an Owl in this sort of habitat before, love the stare and the raised ear tufts,it's a great looking image.

[Hazel Grant]

above all true. those eye do it! great contrast of the sharp owl to the rocks.

[Aidan Briggs]

Well done all around Doug, I like the strong eye contact and inclusion of the cave

[Joseph Przybyla]

A beauty Doug...

[Grace Scalzo]

So unusual. I've only seen them in trees. Full of interest and of course perfectly executed and composed.

[Miguel Palaviccini]

I'm still not sure how you navigated us to this place, I'm just glad that you did! Looking forward to going back for some owlet photos!

[arash_hazeghi]

what a find! the eye contact is so captivating

[gail bisson]

This is really neat. Such an unusual spot for a GHO.
I like the different pose as well.
If this nest is 25 feet off the ground how did you manage these eye level shots? Is it the angle created by your distance from the owl or did you have a ladder?
In any event a really nice image. The eyes draw you into the "cave",
Gail

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Dog, great IQ, and love the eye contact. The owl seems pretty relaxed, and overall, good DOF on the owl.

[Doug Brown]

Here's a shot of the cliff and the nest. Momma is sitting on eggs.

[Doug Brown]

This is really neat. Such an unusual spot for a GHO.
I like the different pose as well.
If this nest is 25 feet off the ground how did you manage these eye level shots? Is it the angle created by your distance from the owl or did you have a ladder?
In any event a really nice image. The eyes draw you into the "cave",
Gail

We did bring a ladder, but the shots look the same with or without a ladder. The eye level view is an optical illusion created by my distance from the nest and the focal length I was using.

[Doug Brown]

After visiting the nest again today, I'd say it's more like 40 feet off the ground.