Photo Stories
A Christmas present provided the perfect opportunity to snap some owls up close
What’s hiding in those mysterious Scottish highlands? What can a Christmas present mean for photography? Lets find out
As a present, my partner bought me a two-hour session to handle some owls at a bird of prey centre. Although the weather was a bit grey, I figured I should make use of my nice Canon 5D Mk III camera and get some reminders of the day. I usually use my Canon 24-105mm lens, which is ideal for most situations, but thought it might be an opportunity to break out the 70-300mm zoom for some real close-ups. It would also produce some nice bokeh effects, and I love the effect you get with shallow depth of field.
The day was cold and a bit overcast, so coats and gloves were required. We joined a group of about ten people, and over the course of two hours we got to hold and stroke the owls, learn about the different species and then have one land on our hand to be fed.
My choice of lens turned out to be right one: it enabled
me to get really nice close-ups without shoving the lens in the birds’ (and other people’s) faces. It also allowed me to crop out the other group members and focus in on the birds, some of which I also did back home in Photoshop.
Once the owls were perched on someone’s hand – we were given thick leather gloves to protect against their talons – they were the ideal subjects. The only slight issue is their ability to swivel their heads, which they usually did when the camera was pointed in their direction.
The light wasn’t great on the day but the 5D Mk III coped admirably, and if anything the slightly flat light helped avoid any harsh shadows and too much contrast. The colours of the birds – mainly whites, autumnal browns and beiges – sort of suited the conditions, and worked well once the backdrop of grass, trees and sky was blurred out.
I shot most of the images at the full 300mm, and only occasionally had to step back if the autofocus wasn’t coping too well. Despite the dreary conditions, I was quite happy with the results – I love how much detail the camera can resolve in the owls’ plumage when shooting at narrower apertures. Fortunately the Canon 5D Mk III is way smarter than I am.