Snowy Owl & Workshop Update

This is the second Snowy Owl in the same area that I found my first of the year (see my Nov. 13 & Nov. 14 posts). I was almost as surprised as the owl as I wandered through the heavy frost in the misty fog as the rain started to fall. It's still too early to decide if this winter will be great for owls, but the early indicators are all good. Fingers crossed that they establish the area as their winter hunting grounds.

Two spots remain available for my recently added Winter Owl Workshop, February 10-14, 2025.

Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus, Harfang des neiges, SNOW) Quebec, Canada. Sony a9 III mirrorless camera body & Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS Lens @600mm F/6.3 ISO 6,400 @ 1/5,000s.

Snowy Owl Workshop New Dates Just Announced!

Here is another image of what I believe to be the same Snowy Owl that I posted yesterday. It was so nice to find it in time for the nice light—smile. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it hangs around.

I have announced an additional Owl Workshop from February 10 to 14, 2025. CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE OR SIGN UP.

Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus, Harfang des neiges, SNOW) Quebec, Canada. Sony a1 mirrorless camera body Sony & Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS Lens @600mm F/6.3 ISO 10,000 @ 1/5,000s.

Snowy Owl Workshop Update - They are back!

I have been predicting a good winter for Snowy Owls, and although it is too early to know for sure, it looks more and more like it will be. I had my first Snowy Owl on the drive back to Montreal from Toronto after my Sony Presentations at ProFusion Expo! It was perched beside the highway at a truck scale, making it an easy choice to stop and grab my 100-400 for a portrait - and it never flew away - smile.

Since the February 3-7 trip sold out in record time, I have added another workshop from Feb. 10-14, 2024. Click the image to learn more or sign up.

Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus, Harfang des neiges, SNOW) Quebec, Canada. Sony a1 mirrorless camera body Sony & Sony FE 100-400mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS Lens @400mm F/5.6 ISO 5,000 @ 1/5,000s.

Snowy Owl Out of the Woods

This snowy owl was photographed during my Winter Snowy Owl Workshop. A warm front caused a light fog, lowering the contrast and softening the background. This Snowy Owl seemed to love perching on the edge of the forest, unlike most, who prefer the wide open spaces of farm fields during the winter, much like at their nesting grounds on the tundra much further North in the summer.

Snowy Owl Out of the Woods (Bubo scandiacus, Harfang des neiges, SNOW) from my Snowy Owl Workshop in Ontario, Canada. Sony a1 mirrorless camera body Sony & Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS Lens @600mm F/6.3 ISO 3,200 @ 1/5,000s. Full frame image.

Snowy Owl Hoar Frost Heaven

A Snowy Owl on a very cold and windless morning before sunrise during my winter owl workshop. The owl was so well hidden with its camouflage that it took several minutes for my group to see it after I pointed it out. This may be one of my favourites :)

I announced an additional winter owl workshop from February 3 to 7, 2025.

Snowy Owl Hoar Frost Heaven (Bubo scandiacus, Harfang des neiges, SNOW) from my Snowy Owl Workshop in Ontario, Canada. Sony a1 mirrorless camera body Sony & Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS Lens @600mm F/6.3 ISO 10,000 @ 1/5,000s.

Snowy Owl ICE TALON

Light freezing rain caused a thin layer of ice over the freshly fallen snow. I love how the talons grip the ice as this young female Snowy Owl takes flight.

Owl toes and talons

Owls have four toes on each foot. Two toes point forward, one toe points backward, and each foot's ‘reversible’ outer toe can point forward or backward, as the owl wishes. Sometimes, three of the owl’s toes point forward, and sometimes only two. With two toes pointing forward and two back, known as a zygodactyl, the owl can perch securely on a branch. When the owl clutches its prey, its toes spread so the owl can get a firm grip. It is known as anisodactyl when it has three toes facing forward and one backward.

A long, sharp claw called a talon is at the end of each toe. The owl uses its talons to snatch, squeeze, and kill prey animals. It also uses talons to defend itself against predators, such as hawks, other owls, badgers, and raccoons.

Many owls have feathered legs and feet for warmth. Snowy Owls, for example, who live in the cold Arctic, have heavily feathered legs and feet. Elf Owls live in warm, southern climates and have lightly feathered legs.

Snowy Owl ICE TALON (Bubo scandiacus, Harfang des neiges, SNOW) from my Snowy Owl Workshop in Ontario, Canada. Sony a9 II Camera body, Sony 600mm f/4 GM OSS Lens, Sony FE 1.4X Teleconverter @ 840mm F/5.6 ISO 1,600 1/3,200s.

Snowy Owl High Key Abstract

Love it, or hate it? This Snowy Owl image breaks all the rules. It is from my annual Winter Snowy Owl Workshops a few years ago. I usually don’t post anything this different, but since I just reprocessed this one before printing it 40” X 60” for a large order heading to The Netherlands, I decided to share.

Please feel free to comment with your thoughts: Do you love or hate it, and why?

Snowy Owl High Key Abstract (Bubo scandiacus, Harfang des neiges, SNOW) from my Snowy Owl Workshop in Ontario, Canada. Sony a1 mirrorless camera body Sony & Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS Lens @401mm F/6.3 ISO 2,000 @ 1/5,000s.

Snow Owl Landing in Predawn Light

This Snowy Owl was photographed before sunrise during my Winter Snowy Owl workshop a couple of years ago on a bitterly cold morning. I love the natural gradient the ice fog added to the background, and I took the liberty of removing the top of the telephone post it landed on to make a better image.

Snowy Owl landing in predawn light (Bubo scandiacus, Harfang des neiges, SNOW) from my Snowy Owl Workshop in Ontario, Canada. Sony a1 Camera body Sony 600mm f/4 GM OSS Lens & Sony FE 1.4X Teleconverter @840mm F/5.6 ISO 16,000 1/4,000s.

“I have just been fortunate enough to participate in a Winter Owl workshop run by Chris. The experience was outstanding. Chris had thoroughly researched our excursions beforehand and knew exactly where the Owls were wintering - he also spared no effort to maximise our photo opportunities - both in terms of weather conditions, lighting, angles, backdrop etc - but also in terms of helping us each personally during the week with technical tips towards achieving better results.

Logistically the trip was also a pleasure with spacious transport, good accommodations and food, and an enjoyable group camaraderie. Altogether a great trip, and I would thoroughly recommend Chris as a guide for future trips.”

— Jonathan Mercer, UK

Snowy Owl in snow covered tree

Another Snowy Owl from a recent private owl workshop. As was the case with the last Snowy Owl that I posted HERE, I had my Sony a9III set up and ready to test the pre-capture and was ready for blast-off, but it simply didn’t happen while we were there waiting, and we left it where we found it as it got dark. So happy that there are a few owls finally moving into their winter territory!

Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus, Harfang des Neiges, SNOW) from a recent private Winter Snowy Owl Photo Tour in Canada. Image Copyright 2024 ©Christopher Dodds All Rights Reserved. Sony Alpha a9 III Mirrorless camera & Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS Lens @600mm. ISO 5,000 @ 1/5,000s f/6.3. Full frame image.

Snowy Owl

Here is a Snowy Owl from a recent private Snowy Owl Photo Tour. Snowy Owls and snow have been in short supply this winter in southeast Canada, and this beauty showed up more than two months late!

I used the new Sony a9 III paired with my Sony 200-600mm zoom lens. Although we were close and using the van as a blind, I never got to photograph it blasting off as planned because it sat there until dark. It looks somewhat alert after being dive-bombed by a raven.

Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus, Harfang des Neiges, SNOW) from a recent private Winter Snowy Owl Photo Tour in Canada. Image Copyright 2024 ©Christopher Dodds All Rights Reserved. Sony Alpha a9 III Mirrorless camera & Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS Lens @200mm. ISO 400 @ 1/2,000s f/5.6. Full frame image.

Happy New Year and Thank you

Best wishes for a healthy, happy, and peaceful New Year ahead. Thank you for visiting my blog, buying my prints, joining my workshops, attending my public appearances and interacting with my images on Facebook, Instagram and Vero.

There is only one spot left for my winter owls galore workshops due to cancellation:

Snowy Owls: They're back!

One of three frames I made during my brief encounter with this beauty while cruising the backroads looking for ….. owls :) Only two spots are left for my winter Snowy Owl Workshops in January.

Snowy Owl in flight (Bubo scandiacus, Harfang des Neiges, SNOW) from my Winter Snowy Owl Photo Tour in Canada. Image Copyright 2022 ©Christopher Dodds All Rights Reserved. Sony Alpha a1 Mirrorless camera & Sony FE 600mm f/4 G Master OSS Lens. ISO 5,000 @ 1/5,000s f/4. Full frame image.

Snowy Owl SNOW SQUALL

This might be my favourite from my winter owl workshops last winter. We waited almost five hours in the cold for this blast-off, which coincided with a brief snow squall. There are only a few spots left for January; Learn more HERE.

Snowy Owl SNOW SQUALL (Bubo scandiacus, Harfang des Neiges, SNOW) from my Winter Snowy Owl Photo Tour in Canada. Image Copyright 2022 ©Christopher Dodds All Rights Reserved. Sony Alpha a1 Mirrorless camera & Sony FE 600mm f/4 G Master OSS Lens. ISO 10,000 @ 1/5,000s f/4. Full frame image top to bottom.

I am excited to be presenting twice daily on November 8 & 9, 2023 at the largest camera show in Canada; ProFusion Expo. Click my picture to learn more and see the schedule.

Snowy Owl SOLITUDE

A Snowy Owl from last winter’s WINTER OWL WORKSHOPS. Allowing for a generous negative space adds definition to your subject, and it reduces the negative impact of a busy composition by acting as a buffer, an area in which the eye is drawn back toward the subject.

Winter Owls Workshop update

Winter Owl Workshop update

I just had a second person cancel for medical reasons. Please click below to learn more or sign-up:

Snowy Owl Fire Flight

Chris Dodds knows how to do a workshop!

I had the pleasure of attending Chris' Snowy Owl Workshop this past January. To be honest, I did not know much about Chris before the trip. All I knew was the quality of his images on his website and that I wanted Snowy owl pictures. Needless to say, Chris met and exceeded my expectations. He goes over and above to get you in the right place at the right time to capture the best images possible. Having been on numerous workshops around the world with various leaders, I can say Chris worked harder than most..... He also made sure that we were in position to get a variety of images and not just 1000 photos of the same animal behavior. Chris knows his birds and what they are going to do next (as much as humanly possible). He teaches in a way that things make sense. I was getting frustrated with my photography before this trip. I was able to get great shots before the workshop but felt that the percentage of great shots to missed shots needed to be better. Chris explained ways to change a few of my bad habits in a way that no one else ever did. I have tried manual exposure in the past but never got comfortable with it but after a day or two with Chris it clicked in my mind and my images improved and percentage of keepers went up.
If you get a chance to go on a workshop with Chris I would highly recommend it. I know I will again.

Rick Susi  Orlando, FL, USA

Amazingly, there is still one spot left due to last minute cancellation:

Snowy Owl Workshop last minute opening

“Thank you again for an amazing week of owls. I came home with some of my favourite images of all time. I was very impressed with many things throughout the week. Most notably, your concern for our groups’ comfort, your knowledge of the owls we were there to photograph, your technical ability, your advice/instruction, and your ability to always make things fun. Spending some time with you and seeing the amount of effort, time and processing that goes in to capturing your images was an eye-opening moment for me. It was an awesome experience and I am already looking forward to next year’s workshop. Thank you again for everything.”

— Andrew Feiler Las Vegas | Nevada | USA

Only one spot left for my Owl Workshops due to cancellation.

Click HERE to learn more or sign-up.

Snowy Owl Happy Holidays

Happy holidays and best wishes for a healthy, happy, and peaceful New Year ahead. Thank you for visiting my blog, buying my prints, joining my workshops, attending my public appearances and interacting with my images on Facebook, Instagram and Vero.

There is only one spot left for my winter owls galore workshops due to cancellation:

Snowy Owl Dorsal View

Q: Hi Chris, I have been told a few times by other photographers that I should throw away any picture that does not include both eyes. Do you follow this rule?

-James Bauer

A: Hi James, Absolutely not! While it is rare for me to keep an image where you can’t see at least one eye, it does happen. The dorsal view of the Snowy Owl here is a good example of when that works. Browse through the images in this blog and you will see many images with just one eye visible to the viewer.

As for what to throw away, once you have deleted any images that are out of focus, or obvious immediate failures, it is up to you what to keep. We all have different tastes and storage is cheap these days. Keep the images that you like - smile!