The morning was extremely cold. By every definition, -40 fits everyones idea of stupid cold. No one in his right mind would be out "enjoying" that kind of weather. That is unless theres a real reason for abandoning a homes comforting warmth. Unless, of course, there was something compelling enough to brave the elements. Unless youre out to see one of natures wonderful sitesA Great Gray Owl invasion.

As I stood there, the water vapor slowly escaped from my breadth and created a small fog cloud around my head. Each breadth would add to the already misty environment my equipment was suffering through. Every molecule of water seemed to adhere to either my equipment or my head. Im sure I looked like Jack Frost, my camera certainly did. Still, I pressed on. There were more important things to do. The object of my attentiona Great Gray Owlstood on his perch scanning the surroundings apparently obvious to the stupid cold conditions we were in. I was there hoping to get a particular image.

So I stood. Eye gluedperhaps frozen is more appropriateto my viewfinder and waited for anything and everything. If that bird moved--I shot. If he turned his head--I shot. If he winkedI shot. Anything he did, I fired off a frame on my camera. All I hoped was to get a decent in-flight image. To get that you always had to be ready. Birds alight without warning and you always had to be ready. Even then, when they takeoff its always a spectacular surprise.

When he finally zoomed into the air I was surprised as expected. Gawd his wingspan was huge! Instinctively I squeezed the trigger for a couple of shots but I wasnt conscience enough to keep tracking my target. A couple of beats of his wings and he was on a flight path right by my location and out of the viewfinder he went. "Get back into gear" I thought. I fumbled with the camera. Unlike other birds, Great Grays are much slower fliers and he was no exception. Still, I was overcoming the initial surprise of his takeoff and my attempts at tracking him were clumsy at best. I swung my camera into action hoping to catch up and create a decent composition at the same time. This challenge was similar to tacking flies with a telescope indoors. Once you lose sight, you have a terrible time trying to re-acquire. As he got within 10 yards3 seconds after taking offI regained enough composure to shoot again. I panned, fired some pictures, and then he passed. Five seconds from takeoff to passing. Not much time in retrospect but an eternity when shooting.

All that and I only got five images. I guess I couldve gotten more but I still have that philosophy of trying to compose the shot real-time instead of just letting the camera rip. Eight frames as second can yield a lot of images to chose from. There are those that take full advantage of a cameras modern technology and prefer to shoot now and ask questions later. That approach probably yields a higher percentage of excellent images per event. I feel it takes a bit of my photographic control away from the event and shoot with a bit more purpose. I prefer to at least see what Im shooting.

As he passed by within 30 feet, he hovered by the road looking for a vole our mouse in the snow. I stood there wide-eyed at the scene. Apparently the conditions werent appropriate because he soon broke his hover and departed for a nearby tree to another perch. I watched and felt amazed. The pain of being out in stupid conditions momentarily departed. The 5-second show seemed to return warmth into my frozen fingers and hardened toes. The troubles of being out in those conditions evaporated for a few moments. Amazing was all I could think.

Cheers,

Tom