It feels like it’s been roughly 20 years since I last posted a Shot & Story blog, so I’m happy to be feeling inspired to share one today.
This is a photo I love, due to the personality of it and the imperfection that is absolutely perfect. Lately it seems like the world of wildlife photography is a little bit hoity-toity (okay- the world of wildlife photography is always hoity-toity…) when it comes to shared work and I’m so over it at the moment. Nature is perfectly imperfect and sometimes the imperfect shot is the best, as it represents reality.
I recently learned how much editing is often involved in owl photography (removing branches and sticks in post, etc etc) and it’s made me feel annoyed. I guess that’s my mood this week lol :)
So I’ve decided the best shot and story this week is one of an owl. In all her fucking glory, without manipulation in post processing. The lighting here isn’t awesome and the beautiful great horned owl has a feather covering her face. And I love it. This was a pure moment that was a surprise and a delight.
I did not expect to see an owl on the day I made this image. In fact, just a few weeks prior, this nest was occupied by a pair of red-tailed hawks. I ventured out to try to remember the location of this nest, which I’d found back in February. I had forgotten to pin its location. After a good deal of searching and deciding I probably wasn’t going to find it, there it suddenly was. It’s funny how nature often works that way. The moment when you resign is the moment you get what you want. Pretty neat.
At first I wasn’t totally sure what I was seeing in the nest, just knowing it was not the hawks I had seen before. A bit of maneuvering myself through a busy landscape brought me to a better field of view and I was so shocked to see this great horned owl, absolutely chillin.
And she had this great big feather right in front of her face. And it was clear that I could take it or leave it, as I couldn’t get to a better view of her without being disruptive, which is more important to me than a “perfect” shot. To me, unbothered and relaxed nature is perfect. So I rolled with it and ended up making three really lovely photos, with this one being my favorite.
I spent all of 10 minutes with this owl, feeling like it would be bothersome to her if I spent much more time in the area. So after rattling off a bunch of frames, I whispered my thanks and headed back to my route, feeling really grateful for the moment.
If you’d like to read more in The Shot & The Story series, click here!