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Burrowing Owls

Discussion

17 replies
Posted by Kurt Bowman on July 3, 2011 at 3:55 PM
Burrowing Owls
I finally made my way out to Pawnee again to photograph one of my favorite species....the Burrowing Owls! I finally had some wonderful light to shoot with. I photographed both last evening and this morning. Most of the owls were sitting on the west side both times, which was great for this morning's shoot, but of course made the exposure very challenging last evening with the sun at my face. I moved to spot metering and decided to try and capture some dramatic sunset light in the BG (and it was a BEAUTIFUL sunset out here last night). Please let me know if these work or not. I had to work exposures in processing a bit on the evening shots.

This first one is from this morning and a pretty standard type shot with good light.
Posted by Kurt Bowman on July 3, 2011 at 3:56 PM
from this morning...picking at the leg with side light
Posted by Kurt Bowman on July 3, 2011 at 3:57 PM
from this morning...puffing up with side light
Posted by Kurt Bowman on July 3, 2011 at 3:58 PM
from last night, sunset and backlit
Posted by Kurt Bowman on July 3, 2011 at 3:58 PM
and finally, my personal favorite from last night...sunset, backlit and dramatic
Posted by Nate Zeman on July 3, 2011 at 7:16 PM
Hey Kurt these are all great! I especially like the last one. looks like a tricky exposure! I've been wanting to get into that area to shoot burrowing owls for a while but have never made the trip. Any advice on where's the best place to find them?
Posted by SandyRichardsBrown on July 4, 2011 at 12:11 AM
Excellent, Kurt!
I'm envious! Can't even find any around here..
Sandy
Posted by Bill Pelzmann on July 4, 2011 at 1:20 AM
Great set, Kurt.

That backlight is tough. I love the smooth background pastels in #4, but I agree the last one is overall best.
Posted by Jack Garrett on July 4, 2011 at 2:16 AM
nother great series Kurt...well done!!
Posted by Bill Brennan on July 4, 2011 at 8:43 AM
Wow! Nature is marvelous.

Bill Brennan
Posted by Don George on July 4, 2011 at 9:42 AM
Really like the Karate Kid pose. Great group of images
Posted by Morris McClung on July 4, 2011 at 3:41 PM
Once again, great poses from your work. Pure art with the last being my favorite with those great sky colors.
Posted by Koveh Tavakkol on July 4, 2011 at 8:42 PM
#1 is fantastic!
Posted by Grant Collier on July 5, 2011 at 1:30 AM
Great shots!
Posted by Bob Karcz on July 5, 2011 at 9:15 AM
Great shots Kurt!
Posted by John Mumaw on July 6, 2011 at 9:48 AM
One of my favorite birds, and these images are just above and beyond most that I've seen, Kurt.
They are all superb, but the backlit sunset shots are truly spectacular! You did an excellent job with the tricky exposure.
Posted by Dan Walters on July 8, 2011 at 12:32 PM
Beautiful work Kurt! Love the sky in the last image. Great eye contact in #1
Posted by Stan Rose on July 10, 2011 at 5:02 PM
WOW, wow, and wow!!