# Owls from Guatemala



## Glenn Bartley (May 14, 2019)

A few beautiful Owls from my recent trip to Guatemala.

Lots more here - http://www.glennbartley.com/naturephotography/articles/Gallery - Guatemala2019.html

Cheers!

Glenn






Fulvous Owl





Mottled Owl


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## Click (May 14, 2019)

Great shots, Glenn.


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## Graphic.Artifacts (May 14, 2019)

A little heavy on the flash for an Owl IMO. Don't want to come of like a social justice warrior but flashing Owls always strikes me as a bit too far just to get a photo. YMMV.


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## Valvebounce (May 15, 2019)

Hi Graphic Artefacts. 
I think it depends on the habit of the owl, using flash on a diurnal owl would seem little different from using flash on any other bird, less fun for a dawn / dusk hunter and possibly darn right rude for a nocturnal owl? These are both nocturnal owls. 

Just to lay out my cards, I do use flash sometimes on birds I shoot, they (Tits, Robins, Kestrels and other UK garden birds) do flinch at first, but they will often sit through several shots of flash so I conclude it doesn’t bother them too much as they are free to leave at any time!

Cheers, Graham. 



Graphic.Artifacts said:


> A little heavy on the flash for an Owl IMO. Don't want to come of like a social justice warrior but flashing Owls always strikes me as a bit too far just to get a photo. YMMV.


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## AlanF (May 15, 2019)

Valvebounce said:


> Hi Graphic Artefacts.
> I think it depends on the habit of the owl, using flash on a diurnal owl would seem little different from using flash on any other bird, less fun for a dawn / dusk hunter and possibly darn right rude for a nocturnal owl? These are both nocturnal owls.
> 
> Just to lay out my cards, I do use flash sometimes on birds I shoot, they (Tits, Robins, Kestrels and other UK garden birds) do flinch at first, but they will often sit through several shots of flash so I conclude it doesn’t bother them too much as they are free to leave at any time!
> ...


Flash is very widely used, and there are discussions on whether it is bad for birds or not. Here is a sensible one about owls from Audubon: https://www.audubon.org/news/is-flash-photography-safe-owls
I personally don't use flash although it is probably harmless for occasional shots.


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## Graphic.Artifacts (May 15, 2019)

Those owls have fully dialated pupils and by the flash shadows it appears to have been quite dark. If it was just a bit of HSS fill I wouldn’t have commented. There’s also the issue that it’s an advertisement for a guide to using flash for bird photography so the photos are being used commercially. I’ve shot thousands of owl phots and have never used a flash so I don’t feel there is a need. That’s my opinion. I’m aware others disagree but If you did that in the refuge where I volunteer I’d eject you for harassment.


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