My First Owl’s- Wildlife

To say I am a wildlife photographer would be an exaggeration.

I possess the necessary gear and certainly live in a place that is wonderful for wildlife photography, and yields plentiful opportunities that photographers in major cities could only dream of. Eastern Nebraska is very great for exposure to wildlife, as well as lack of exposure to conditions that can be detrimental to the photographer- light pollution, dangerous conditions such as traffic, and the possibility of theft. These simply don’t exist (or at least not on a great scale) in rural southeast Nebraska where I reside.

It didn’t take overly long for me to get my first mega-zoom for wildlife (150-600 Tamron g1), and begin photographing the creatures that I saw daily. It wasn’t until Stephen, a local newspaper manager, and a friend named Daniel pushed me to do wildlife photography that I really took any photos that were decent at all.

At the time, I was excited at the idea of photographing a bald eagle. I had only ever spotted a few during my time in Nebraska, and coming from suburban California, I was under the impression that they were rare. That idea would quickly change, as would my perception of wildlife photography and birding.

It mostly started with a visit to Fontanelle Forest, where I was meeting up with Daniel and his gang of wildlife-photographer buddies. It was a cold morning, and I had no clue what to expect. We hiked out into the woods in the freezing conditions, in search of birds and other photo opportunities.

This first expedition yielded okay results- Not knowing what exactly to expect, what to look for, or the methods of shooting needed to successfully capture wildlife subjects, I only got a couple of good shots, and not of anything particularly rare. But it was a good time.

A week or so later, after conversing with Stephen at a Peru State Basketball Game (which I’m paid to shoot), he invited me to visit the Loess Bluff National Wildlife Refuge, just 40 minutes south in Missouri. I accepted, and we set off one morning and found no shortage of eagles, ducks, geese, and more. It was a fun time and definitely got me motivated to shoot more wildlife.

Looking at my earliest work, it honestly wasn’t half bad. The photos are fine, although they lack that special something that makes you go “wow” (except maybe the bald-eagle picture. I still think that one is badass). After another trip to the refuge with Daniel, new camera in-hand, I began to improve my wildlife photography skills, as well as gain a further understanding of what I was photographing. This was especially considered when we were searching for a good spot to find a short-eared owl in my area. This is when Daniel gave me the owl bug.

A decent time and a winter storm later, I find myself in a peculiar situation. My girlfriend is out of town, school is out, and campus is closed so I can’t go to work. What do I do? Having an affair certainly isn’t an option, and sitting inside felt like being trapped in prison of boredom and ADHD-fueled suffering. Out of desperation for something to do, I hit up Daniel late that night, asking if he had any photo trips planned. And he did, the next morning. Suddenly, I was planning to travel 3.5 hours into Iowa to shoot photos of birds.

Quickly, I got my gear prepared. I packed my bag with my 150-600 Tamron, 70-200 f2.8 Tamron, 85mm F1.4 Rokinon mounted on my R. and my new R6 with the RF 50mm f1.8 on it. I called up and told my girlfriend (who wasn’t happy that I was gonna be closer to Minnesota than I was to Omaha, which was already an hour from home), and went to sleep for 4 hours, ready for the next day.

I was excited. None of my friends in Nebraska had really been into photography up until then, and spending an entire day dedicated to photography was something I hadn’t done in a long time due to being in a relationship, work, and school. Luckily for me, with my lady’s permission, campus closed, and school on break, I was granted this opportunity.

I woke up at 5:00 in the morning and grabbed my bags to embark on an hour-long drive in icy conditions to meet up with Daniel. The negative temperatures, dark skies, and icy roads only added to the sense of adventure. After meeting up with Daniel, we embarked into Iowa.

One thing I have noticed living in Nebraska is the seeming lack of adventure. The town I live in is only near other small towns, and a majority of the trips I take follow the same route countless times. I must know every abandoned barn and cool-looking tree on the drive to Omaha, which I have done at least once a week for nearly two years.

Finally exploring something new felt great. Driving through new small towns with weird names and beautiful churches presented an odd sense of alien familiarity. The small town felt the same, but the surroundings and structures were completely different. This yielded great photos while en route to our destination.

Eventually, we arrived at our destination in Ida Grove, a small town with an absurd fascination for castles and other miscellaneous medieval architecture. We quickly moved on to take some photos of birds.

Upon arrival, we met some older gentlemen who confirmed the rumors of a Barred Owl sitting in a hole in a tree. Great! The talkative one of the two even called the local bird-guru, and man by the name of Don (however it’s spelled, I’m going with Don).

Don arrived and led us directly to a Saw-Whet Owl. It was perched within a cedar tree just a few minutes from the car, and I was able to photograph it with my 70-200 F2.8 since the bird sits still as a defense mechanism. This is just about one of my best photos of all time, and undoubtedly my best wildlife photo to date. After a few minutes of pestering the owl, we moved on to photographing the Barred Owl, which was sleeping peacefully. After getting our photos (and getting a little closer than we likely should have), we decided it was time to move on.

The talkative old man wasn’t going to let that happen so easily though and insisted we follow him to a small ski-hill and historic stagecoach stop. Honestly, this wasn’t anything particularly special. Being from a town where most buildings are from the 1800s and attending the oldest college in Nebraska, I was already familiar with much older and much more historic sights. But what came as a shock is when the old man pointed to an old, sturdy tree and explained that’s where they would hang the corpses of Native Americans for the birds to pick the flesh off of them. He said it in a pretty excited, nonchalant manner, and Daniel and I weren’t exactly sure how to react. We got out of there shortly after. But the photos from this location were excellent.

This location was the highlight of the day. Moving on from here, we captured other interesting photos at Summit Lake, but I ultimately missed out on the “money shot” that Daniel captured.

After that location was Desoto Wildlife Refuge, where we were hoping to capture a “Shorty”, or Short Eared Owl. We weren’t so lucky, but we were able to capture some interesting photos of Geese, as well as talk with a few other photographers who were there at the time.

That just about wrapped up the best day of photography I’ve had in a long time- as well as the best wildlife work I’ve ever done. I’m looking forwar to whatever the future (and my friends) may have planned, but for Now, The photos speak for themselves.