{"id":931,"date":"2010-09-25T15:34:22","date_gmt":"2010-09-25T21:34:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=931"},"modified":"2025-05-08T09:39:04","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T14:39:04","slug":"angles-and-backgrounds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2010\/09\/25\/angles-and-backgrounds\/","title":{"rendered":"Great Horned Owl Chick – Angles and Backgrounds"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"YoungYoung Great Horned Owl on old ladder\u00a0– <\/strong>D200, handheld, f5.6, 1\/320, ISO 250, 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 300mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

While visiting a friend’s family farm in northern Montana we had the opportunity to photograph this young Great Horned Owl very early in the morning, in fact when we first spotted it the sun had not yet risen.<\/p>\n

Normally I prefer to have natural not man-made perches, though I do make exceptions. This owl is perched on an old ladder to what used to be a child’s fort. I remember thinking that morning how much I liked how the bird was framed by the warm tones of the wood and the rustic feel to it.<\/p>\n

The photographs I have attached to this post are of the same Great Horned Owl fledgling, taken in the same location on the same morning. The\u00a0backgrounds seem very different and that is because of the angle I used\u00a0when I created the each of the photos.<\/p>\n

I photographed both these owl images handheld.\u00a0For the image above I propped the lens on my knee while sitting on the ground pointing my lens slightly upward. The golden color you see at the bottom of the frame are\u00a0out of focus\u00a0grasses and above them the blue is the sky.<\/p>\n

\"GreatGreat Horned Owl fledgling in Montana perched on an old ladder – <\/strong>D200, handheld, f6.3, 1\/530, ISO 250, 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 320mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

I stood up and pointed my lens slightly down towards the owl when I created the image above. The sky didn’t show in this image just the out of focus grasses of the background.<\/p>\n

When I am photographing I try to be aware of how a slight change of angle can make a huge difference in the final image. I’ll often move up or down to see what impact that has on the bird and background.<\/p>\n

I can honestly say that\u00a0I like both backgrounds with this owl and don’t prefer one over the other. By changing the angle I used to produce these images\u00a0though I have given each of the photos a different look and feel.\u00a0 Just by moving a little I can change the angles and backgrounds and give the subject a different look.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to view more of my Great Horned Owl photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The photographs I have attached to this post are of the same Great Horned Owl fledgling, taken in the same location on the same morning. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":143478,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,860,209,12],"tags":[210,211,859,2663,212,4203,4134,11563,4141,4109,4108,4067,56,12741,4204,4206,3967,294,4104,4018,165,4193],"class_list":["post-931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-glacier-county","category-great-horned-owls","category-montana","tag-angles","tag-background","tag-backgrounds","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-bokeh","tag-bubo-virginianus","tag-chick","tag-farmlands","tag-fledgling","tag-grasses","tag-great-horned-owl","tag-immature","tag-juveniles-2","tag-ladder","tag-light","tag-old-wood","tag-owl","tag-owls","tag-perched","tag-sky","tag-spring","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-juvenile-sky-mia-mcpherson-1555.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-f1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11157,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/11\/25\/missing-montanas-great-horned-owls\/","url_meta":{"origin":931,"position":0},"title":"Missing Montana’s Great Horned Owls","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 25, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Great Horned Owls and old wood just seem to go together, the warm tones of the wood are a great compliment to the same tones in the plumage of Great Horned Owls.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Mated pair of Great Horned Owls perched on an old granary in Montana, Glacier County\u00a0","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owls-mates-mia-mcpherson-1970.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owls-mates-mia-mcpherson-1970.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owls-mates-mia-mcpherson-1970.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owls-mates-mia-mcpherson-1970.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14448,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/02\/26\/a-great-horned-owl-juvenile-in-montana\/","url_meta":{"origin":931,"position":1},"title":"Great Horned Owl juvenile in Montana","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 26, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I especially like the combination of old wood and owls, in this photo a juvenile Great Horned Owl is perched on an external structural beam of an old granary in Glacier County, Montana.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Horned Owl juvenile in granary window in Glacier County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-juvie-granary-mia-mcpherson-6737.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-juvie-granary-mia-mcpherson-6737.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-juvie-granary-mia-mcpherson-6737.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-juvie-granary-mia-mcpherson-6737.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":20812,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/03\/02\/great-horned-owl-fledgling-and-an-old-granary\/","url_meta":{"origin":931,"position":2},"title":"Great Horned Owl fledgling and an old granary","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 2, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning winter is trying to creep back into northern Utah but I am thinking of warmer weather, Montana and Great Horned Owls.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Horned Owl fledgling and an old granary, Glacier County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-fledgling-mia-mcpherson-6731.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-fledgling-mia-mcpherson-6731.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-fledgling-mia-mcpherson-6731.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-fledgling-mia-mcpherson-6731.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5950,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/08\/20\/great-horned-owl-fledgling\/","url_meta":{"origin":931,"position":3},"title":"Great Horned Owl Fledgling","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 20, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Fluffy Great Horned Owl fledgling + knotty weathered wood + large yellow eyes = Wonderful!","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Horned Owl fledgling perched in a granary window, Glacier County, Montana\u00a0","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-fledgling-mia-mcpherson-6782.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-fledgling-mia-mcpherson-6782.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-fledgling-mia-mcpherson-6782.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9816,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/10\/17\/a-young-great-horned-owl-is-a-tiger-of-the-sky-in-the-making\/","url_meta":{"origin":931,"position":4},"title":"Young Great Horned Owl is a Tiger of the Sky in the making","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 17, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I love the descriptive name \"Tiger of the Sky\" when referring to Great Horned Owls, they are fierce, fearless and ferocious and the young owl in the image above is a 'Tiger in the Sky\" in the making.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Young Tiger of the Sky - Great Horned Owl chick, Glacier County, Montana\u00a0","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-juvenile-montana-mia-mcpherson-6944.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-juvenile-montana-mia-mcpherson-6944.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-juvenile-montana-mia-mcpherson-6944.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 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Of course I love all birds but to me owls are special.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Damp fledgling Great Horned Owl in a granary window in Glacier County, Montana\u00a0","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-fledgling-mia-mcpherson-7050.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-fledgling-mia-mcpherson-7050.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-fledgling-mia-mcpherson-7050.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-fledgling-mia-mcpherson-7050.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/931\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/143478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}