WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY: BARN OWLS: (Part Two)

Photographing a stunning wild Barn Owl on a perfect but frosty early morning in south east England.

The second of my two videos where, despite a few hours of frustration, I have a magical encounter on each morning with the same returning male Barn Owl.

** Please stick with the video because all the magic happens literally as I was packing up to go towards the end !!

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This is the result of my many years watching and studying local Barn Owls and to illustrate that the few magical moments you can sometimes get make all the hard work worth it.

If you missed PART ONE, here is the link :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrAvOBPFkiM

I will be doing a further video where I discuss my techniques for photographing Owls (birds in general) in flight but I felt to add to this one would a) slightly take away from the magic of the morning and b) make the video a bit lengthy !

I just want to stress that I always do my best to ensure the wild animal I am filming is never disturbed or changes his behaviour because of my actions. Sadly a small percentage of wildlife photographers don't do this and I believe should always be called out on it. If, for example, a Barn Owl is frightened off it's hunting ground , it really could be the difference between life and death for a near-starvation Owl. This simple fact seems forgotten by a few and I think it's important it's reiterated by the vast majority of photographers who accept that NO photo is worth any distress to the subject.
For us and future generations to enjoy our amazing wildlife we all have a duty of care. (rant over !! :-) . )

I support the Barn Owl Trust in Devon who do great work to help my favourite British animal and their website is an amazing source of useful information if you want to know more.

www.barnowltrust.org.uk

You can follow me on my Instagram account as I put my latest images up on there: https://www.instagram.com/nigelpmorley/

My website: www.nigelmorley.co.uk

CAMERA SETTINGS: Individual image settings are shown at the end of the video against each image. But in addition I used Auto-ISO as maintaining a minimum shutter speed of c1/1000th was vital. As you can see though, the light was amazingly good for late winter.

FILMING: I have used footage both from my DSLR's and my Canon G7Xii but I'm sure you'll appreciate it's a very different proposition vlogging wildlife than landscapes with the randomness of the subject but I hope you'll forgive it not being up to "Planet Earth" standard but my aim was to get across the atmosphere of the day with all the associated roller coaster of emotions.

EQUIPMENT USED IN THIS VIDEO:
Nikon D4 and D810
Nikon 500mm f/4 VR II telephoto
Gitzo 3541XL Tripod
Wimberley Gimbal head

FOR THE VLOGGING:
Canon G7x Mark II on a cheap but very effective K & F tripod
Separate audio via Zoom H1 Audio recorder and a Rode lav mic.

MUSIC: All supplied by Epidemic Sound

ABOUT ME: A long time passionate wildlife/landscape photographer and conservationist, I have always shot different genres of photography but now my subjects are largely driven by love of countryside and wildlife/landscapes especially in the UK. I have a long term conservation project ongoing involving restoring land that was previously arable farmland back to wildlife friendly set aside with wildflower meadows and zero spraying etc

Видео WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY: BARN OWLS: (Part Two) канала Nigel Morley