Saturday, 21st April 2012
The Trilogy
by Stephen Oachs
The Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus), also known as the Arctic Owl, or Great White Owl, is a beautiful, majestic bird of prey that is well-suited for the cold arctic regions they inhabit, ranging across the northern regions of Greenland, Scandinavia, Russia, Alaska and Canada.
Their feathers have no pigment, leaving more space for air, which is an excellent insulator, helping them to keep warm (and cool) as needed for their climate. The female plumage is more visually decorative, speckled with thin horizontal bars or spots, however, the male's spectacular plumage is almost purely white.
Snowy owls are known to sit still and silent for long hours, waiting for their prey — with lemmings being a favorite. An adult owl can eat 3-5 lemmings a day (up to 1,600 per year).
This photograph captures a rare occurrence of three females that have amicably perched together. One reason for this cautious tolerance is because the food source is plentiful and there is less competition...for the moment.
Equipment: Canon 7D with Canon 800mm
Stephen Oachs
Stephen W. Oachs is an award-winning photographer, successful entrepreneur and technology veteran who began his journey in photography the moment he picked up his first camera.
Completely self-taught, Stephen's unique and distinctive style has earned him recognition as one of today's finest nature photographers. He was recognized in 2007 as wildlife photographer of the year by the National Wildlife Federation and was awarded best nature photographer in 2008 by National Geographic.
Stephen has received many other awards and achievements. His work has graced the pages of such notable publications such as National Geographic, Popular Photography, Outdoor Photographer, National Wildlife Magazine and many others.
In 2009 Stephen founded The Aperture Academy, a unique combination of fine art photography gallery in conjunction with classroom and workshop instruction. Students of the Aperture Academy recieve hands on instruction designed for their individual skill level which includes everything from learning to shoot in the field to digital post processing techniques.
Whether trekking through the wilds of Alaska, enduring the raw challenges of nature or experiencing the thrill of life on the edge, Stephen captures rare and breathtaking moments of light and time. His exceptional eye is filtered only by his passion for life, deep affinity with nature and love of adventure.
Website: www.ApertureAcademy.com
The Trilogy by Stephen Oachs was photo of the day on Saturday, 21st April 2012. It is tagged Owls. You can leave a comment below.
35 Comments
Robin Black
What an incredible shot, Stephen!! These birds are so beautiful and regal–how great to get THREE in one shot!
Justin Reznick
Beautiful shot Stephen, congrats!
jenny robinson
The three ladies posed just for you. Magnificent creatures – excellent capture!
Lorenzo Cassina
It’s nice to find you here Stephen and your great work acknowledged. I follow your work and admire the quality of it. This image is wonderfully captured and presented. Congratulations for the spotlight, you deserve it!
jared ropelato
Great shot here Stephen!
Morkel Erasmus
beautiful triplet here Stephen
Mitchell Krog
Superb image Stephen.
skygazer
She’s flirting with you, Stephen, the beauty on the left, has turned her head around just for you. Beautiful photo, thank you for sharing!
Pauline Jones
This is beautiful, I love it. Thanks for the information; very interesting.
Keith
A superb capture of superb trio of raptors ( predators with a hooked bill for tearing flesh and strong, piercing talons for grabbing and holding prey). Wonderful stuff!
maria letizia poli
che meraviglia!!!! <3 <3 <3 ciao!!!!!!!!!
Ivan
This is awesome!
Cynthia Farr-Weinfeld
Unbelievable! This is just the most wonderful capture–I’ve only ever seen ONE owl at a time, but three, perfectly posed? Well done. . . Cindy
Peggy
What a thrill it must have been to capture this photo of three owls; each with a different “expression”! Thank you for sharing this beautiful photo.
Pamela Fontaine
Truly outstanding! Love it!
tjay
What a beautiful trio. I love how the background color is the same as the horizontal bars on the owls. Great image Stephen.
Anne Strickland
This is an image that I could enjoy for a long time. You must be thrilled with this shot!
Louise | Italy
Look like the Three Degrees and any minute now will begin “When will I see you again….” Lovely!
Diana
STUNNING!!!!!
psalms42
The original “Who”s gorgeous birds of prey….perfect shot you captured!!
Gilad Mass
Amazing capture!
Mario gustavo Fiorucci
Superb image Stephen. Congrats
Elizabeth
Simply Beautiful
Sue
Well THAT is the best owl image I have seen so far!!!! Just incredible!!!!!
bobbi hendrix-bryant
I heard just yesterday that OWLS do not have teeth is that true and if so how do they eat,,,, this is a beautiful photo tho..
Renato
Fantastic.
One of my favorite images in nature photography.
Omyda
So amazingly beautiful and captivating! just when you think nature has show us her best she then comes up with this image.
Shirley Hill
Thank you Stephen for this shot of these beautiful birds. Don’t they just have so much personality ?? You must have had a lot of patience. The lighting in the background is a great contrast. Well Done.
Laura Milholland
Such beauty! Thank you for bringing it to us.
Neil
Gold, silver and bronze in one shot, brilliant, get my medal!
Bill Bentley
Hoooo you looking at?
Excellent capture. Thanks for sharing.
peter
nice work
Laurie 3D
This is so perfectly captured that it looks like an artistically-detailed porcelain figurine!
Clinton Parsons
As we say in South Africa “Eish” Beautiful !
Mike
They are cute