How easy do you think it is to photograph an owl at night?
The best nights are when you are having too much fun to take picture... - Unknown
Well, in my case, I have too much fun taking pictures of the nocturnal creatures so I can have my cake and eat it too!😀
Most fun part is tracking these elusive silent birds and then, once I locate them, to capture a 'count my feathers' kind of picture of them with just a torchlight for light... THAT is the real challenge
This spot bellied eagle owl is the worst when it comes to getting it's picture. It's habitat is fearsome enough in daytime - filled with ravines and tall trees. Mostly sloth bear territory too. Imagine trying to locate this owl at night in such territory. It is thrilling and terrifying at the same time.
It took me more than 2 years to get this one clear and close up click of the Spot bellied eagle owl...
Other owls are not in such terrifying territory but are not easy to find either.
This oriental scops owl sat right next to me one night but it took patient searching for 30-40 minutes to finally locate it. It is a very rare rufous morph of the oriental scops owl
I have been often lucky to spot barn owls flying at city outskirts Due to their white coloration, they are a bit easier to spot at night. However, it is another story to catch them sitting at one place and getting a close up. This one below is one of the most close up shots I have of the barn owl...
Owls are not the only creatures at night though.
I found this nightjar sitting on the ground - right in the middle of a dirt road at night. I could manage to stop the car and crawl more than 20 feet to get this awesome close up shot...
Here are some more clicks of owls at nightI took over the years -
Though stressful and difficult, I have come to love nocturnal wildlife photography and have managed to click 5-6 species of owls and 2 species of nightjars so far.
With a torchlight (we do not use flashlights because it can hurt the eyes of nocturnal birds), the light is so low that I have to shoot at 3200 ISO or more with shutter speeds as low as 1/250. It is difficult to get a clear and crisp shot at those low shutter speeds. Sometimes my hand shakes - even a minute shake and I lose a great picture. I think I have still managed to get some decent shots. What do you think ?
Hope you enjoyed seeing the images. I will try to bring many different types of wildlife photos/macro/Astro posts to the community. Feedback and comments are welcome,. I am still learning many techniques and always value feedback from experts in this community.
Have a nice day everyone. Cheers!