A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that I would be posting some more owl photos before the end of the month. This has nothing to do with my field craft skills but everything to do with the Andy Rouse's owl workshop at the British Wildlife Centre. Andy is a multi-award winning photographer, and his workshops are brilliant. He also has a wicked sense of humour!
We had around 5 hours out with the owls, in woodland settings. The set-ups were perfect, the owls beautiful. Plus we had decent light which was a bonus. I've retunred home with 40GB of images (more or less), which equates to around 1400 shots! That is too many, I know; but heck! that was what I was there for.
So these shots very barely touch the surface. It's a fairly random selection to introduce the birds: a tawny owl, a long-eared owl and a beautiful short-eared owl.
This is just about my first shot of the day, and gives an idea of the setting we were working in. It's a tawny owl.
Next is the long-eared owl; a rather stoic creature, but very elegant.
We moved to more open land to photograph the short-eared owl. This bird was too pretty for words and provided some beautiful shots. 
The beauty of the way Andy organises these sessions is that you cannot miss the shot. He's on hand to advise, and everything is planned out to give the best opportunity for success. There was only one tricky bit… photographing the tawny flying through woodland.
I will be sorting out more shots over the next few days and will slot some of them in to the regular posts.
Thanks Andy!
Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 7D and EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM.
SittingFox
21 Mar 2012Sounds like a very fun and education day! The short-eared owl portraits are perfect. I like long-eared owls too – though I've only ever seen one in the wild.
gdare
21 Mar 2012Wow, this is great!!! I really like a third one from the bottom, excellent photograph :yes:
We watched The Frozen Planet, a new TV show by Discovery TV, at one point they showed some kind of polar owl, what a look it gave to camera :eyes:
derWandersmann
21 Mar 2012LOL … 1400 shots! Reminds me of the times I'd have to sort slides for a show on the lightbox … usually from a dozen or so boxes.
Really exciting owl shots, Words!
serola
21 Mar 2012Amazing! :yikes: 1400 shots :faint: Obviously those owls like to pose 😆
anonymous
21 Mar 2012Anonymous writes:
Wow, wow, wow! I love these owl shots particularly the golden-eyed short eared bird third from the bottom. Those eyes are remarkable.
Great stuff, Words!
Marilyn
claudeb
21 Mar 2012What's that owl doing in the grass, stalking prey like a cat? 😛
Words
22 Mar 2012Darko, thanks. I'm really pleased with the shots, especially the one where the short-eared pops up out of the ground.
Words
22 Mar 2012dW, 1400 is a bit extreme and most of them won't see the light of day, but there are some decent shots among them. At least sorting them out is relatively painless on the computer!
Words
22 Mar 2012Felix, something like that. Short-eared owls do hunt over open grassland so the habitat is about right for them.
Words
22 Mar 2012Marilyn, the short-eared was an absolute star turn, and its eyes lit up beautifully in the sun.
Words
22 Mar 2012Erwin, thanks!
Words
22 Mar 2012Sami, silly numbers, but that was about 5 hours of photography and about the number I expected to get.
Words
22 Mar 2012Adele, it was a really good day, and great for picking up tips on how to compose and 'see' shots. That was the second of Andy's workshops I've been on and they are excellent. The real trick though is to take the knowledge into the wild. Not so easy.
Dudley
23 Mar 2012WOW!
Words
23 Mar 2012Thanks Andy! It was a pretty good day 😀
Wulpen
19 Oct 2012Just Beautiful