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phalalcrocorax — Scops owl... the tiny shadow
Published: 2012-07-08 15:54:16 +0000 UTC; Views: 13556; Favourites: 933; Downloads: 0
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HiFinally back from another trip... it was amazing : forgetting the time, forgetting about what a night is supposed to be...
Almost all alone in the night... almost ? no... because some species are as active as a tit feeding his chick. Take example of this scops owl. I truly love this specie !!!
About this picture : It has been made under strict photographic conditions to avoid any problem with the breeding. One of the specialist of this specie in France helped me a lot to understand their behaviour, their tolerance to the modification of their surrounding and the care of the chicks. I created a nest, similar to the one they used but with an integrated flash and a camera in it. The power of the flash was strongly reduced using a mirror system, the camera was hidden in a box included in the nest...
The installation was made of 1 IR trap, the camera and 3 flashes. The camera was wire-controlled with a computer, all the flashes was set to manual. A picture will follow (perhaps).
I used a 14mm on a 5D to make this shot. The bird was close, very close
only few centimetres away from the camera (the wing was surely touching it). BTW, this bird is small, VERY small : he is the size of a screech owl... but weight almost twice less
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Comments: 149
Wow, amazing capture! 
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have you been shoted this photo with remote equipment, hasn't it?
I love this nocturne bird
I'm a digiscoper.
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have it been shoted with remote shot, haven't it?
Waw!
I love this bird!
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All your work at forehand was worth it. This is an awesome shot. I like the colors and sharpness of the owl against the not-totally-black background. Your work gets better and better.
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wow amazing shot, thank you so much for sharing and explaining the way of shooting, it's very interesting
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Amazing! The angle is extrodernary, very unusual but works really well. It really gives the shot a hectic feel. Also his eye is HUGE 
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AHHHHHHHHHHh it's SO CUTE!
What a stunning and perfect photo! The perspective on this is just phenomenal! Very impressive!
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Une photo de cette espèce qui sort de l'ordinaire...
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Amazing shot! I always love seeing what camera traps will capture.
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Now that is pure beauty.
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All the effort is pointless if you don't believe in yourself.
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that is amazing. all your hard prep worked really paid off.
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Wow, your technique is amazing - not only did you take care not to disturb the species, but the result is also aesthetically pleasing. A must fav
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The perspective in this is incredible... beautiful shot
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Amazing shot, indeed!
But, is the owl was not to be blinded by the flash completely?
For an animal with night vision flash should be traumatic to the eye, it seems to me.
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Hi
I won't be able to talk about the bird himself... I can't say what he feels.
But I did a lot to avoid that the flashes disturb him. Owls have a good view during the night as well as during the day. The flash wasn't directed toward the bird to avoid that the power hit him directly... so the power was strongly reduced.
In fact, what I saw is that for the very first flash hit, the bird was disturbed : he needed 2 tries to enter. I think that it was more because of the surprise. Any bird need some times to accept any change in his surrounding. So to help him, we added some food for the chick.
After a few hours, he was not disturbed at all and came without hesitation. It seamed that it didn't make him blind as he hunted without any change.
The guy that followed them for the last 20 years told me the same : during some scientist missions to study his behaviour, they had to do many modifications to his surrounding, including some flashed in direct light and it didn't affect his way to hunt.
BTW, it seams that it depends on the individual and the specie (barn owls are much more difficult compared to the long heared owl.
I hope this answer helped you to know more about the flash issue. I had the same fear about the use of a flash so close... but it really seamed not to disturb him.
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Many thanks for your detailed response!
(English is not my native language too. So, it looks OK for me 8)
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Un très très grand merci
La période de prise de vue était assez courte... et du coup, j'ai énormément croisé les doights pour avoir une image potable à la fin...
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wooow alors ça, ça déchire ! vraiment excellent ! bravo pour la mise en place de cette photo !
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Merci beaucoup pour ton message. Ben j'avoue que c'était un plaisir immense de mettre en place le matériel pour cette image.
Et le résultat... ben il fallait croiser les doigts
C'est pas encore parfait mais ça viendra avec le temps, j'en suis certain
Merci encore et à bientôt (Montier... ou Namur peut-être (j'y expose) )
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Un très grand merci à toi 
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Thanks a lot
Beyong what you expected
Mouhahahaha
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Absoeffinlutely
Very welcome btw.
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this is by far the best photograph that i have seen in ages O_O congratz!
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Thanks a lot !!!
I tried my best... but saying that it is the best picture seen in ages... wwowww this is too much for me
Thanks
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I wouldn't say that
But for sure, it is a nice beginning... the following will be next year if every conditions are fine... now, I need to create some new and improved nest
Thanks again
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That was fun to make... so I am happy to read that the result is just fine
Thanks
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Thanks a lot
Strange view, hein ??
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Thanks a lot !!
It was a joy to make this shot, every part of this shot
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you're so welcome
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aïe... grosse pression de ta part là...
j'avoue que je suis impressionné
c'est quoi la suite maintenant? Un livre? ^^
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