I had a medical appointment in the Twin Cities yesterday (all fine), but I had heard there was a Northern Saw-Whet owl family hanging out in a dead tree at the Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge. While the refuge is definitely not on the direct route south from Duluth to Minneapolis, neither is it horribly out of the way. Thus, I made certain I was on the road shortly after 5 am for my planned detour.

Thankfully, one of the owlets made an appearance after I had waited patiently for one hour. While I understand that “the owlet” is the attraction, these three images demonstrate things to consider for photography:

1. While everyone “wants the close-up”. I actually think the close-up image is the most boring photograph. Habitat makes a photograph much more interesting.
2. Given the Northern Saw-whet’s plumage and the tree’s bark (light grays and browns), I chose to underexpose my images by “one stop”. At a fyi, I underexpose most photographs for birds with lighter plumage in direct sunlight to avoid washouts
3. The final two photographs include habitat, and are much preferred by me.