Starting 2010 With Success

Hey everyone, happy new year to you all. I've been pretty slack on my postings lately, that's mostly due to school and lots of rain here in Vancouver. Anyways, I started the new year off pretty exciting photo-wise. A couple days ago my friend (www.jessfindlay.zenfolio.com) and I went out in search of an rare visitor to the Vancouver area. This visitor happens to be a Great Gray Owl (they only come here around every 5-6 years). Unfortunately, I had to leave just before dusk, and Jess stayed. The owl came out shortly after I left and Jess had a field day with the owl.

The next day we set out again. We arrived at the spot to find a handfull of "Big Lens" bird enthusiasts. Most of them we knew, so it was ok. But sometimes you have to be careful with how you approach owls if sensitive birders are around. Jess' dad had spotted the owl deep in the woods earlier. It was quite impressive he was able to find it. We waited until the sun went down, when it has usually been coming out. It finally flew out about 10 minutes past it's expected time. We were lucky it perched on a fairly decent spot. They're very tolerant of humans, so as long as you're respectful, it's very easy to get close. Shooting in the low-light conditions made tripods very necessary. I was typically on ISO 3200, F4.5, 1/160 sec, to give you an idea.

Shooting the great gray was one of the most memorable photo experiences of my life. These owls are like the wolves of the bird kingdom. Needless to say it was very majestic.

It's nice to start the new year off with such a fine photo experience.

Hope you all have a great new year of nature photography!

Connor Stefanison

http://connorstefanison.zenfolio.com/