Karen McNally, Great Grey Owls (ANIMAL & NATURE 2024)

Photographing Great Grey Owls in their forest habitat can be a challenge as their surroundings are often dense with branches and foliage. These obstacles can make it tricky to get a clean shot, especially when the owls can blend so well with their environment. Learning the owl’s behaviour by watching how they perch, hunt and fly helped to anticipate their movements and find the best angles to shoot from. I find it really rewarding to capture images of birds behaving naturally, with minimal disturbance to them and their habitat.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.