Two Hours of Bliss Photographing an Owl in Yellowstone National Park

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[@malgosiak123]

The last sequence of her/him walking on the branch was the BEST :D! What a joy to witness so much beauty. Love the golden colors in the background. Thank you for sharing :)!

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks!🙏

[@seanhoover1000]

Shot the same owl, in the same location, about 2 weeks before you did. Good to see it was still around and doing well. Great images!

[@whowho8470]

My five year old daughter and I really enjoyed this video. Thank you.

[@IreneDowningNature]

You captured it beautifully Steve. Such a delight to watch this beauty my friend. Nature is sure incredible to observe. A pleasure once again Irene.💖🌹

[@renesch438]

Wow, what a fun 2 hours you had. He ate 4 moles? Hungry critter, Thanks a million for sharing, Just spectacular

[@SteveMattheis]

thanks!🙏

[@ianw73iw]

Stunning photos of the owls. Keep it up as I love them.

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks!🙏

[@SteveP_2426]

WOW!!! Amazing!! Loved that walking sequence especially. Superb.

[@SteveMattheis]

thanks!🙏

[@richardbeasley9084]

Great job again. I always love your owl shots with the dark backgrounds. What a day you had.

[@SteveMattheis]

Yes it was a great day!

[@BirdmanKen]

My family and I are heading to Yellowstone in early June, and I'd love to see a great gray owl and/or the harlequin ducks.

[@Iruinyourkdr]

Hardy rapids for the ducks

[@martinsepion]

I never get tired of watching your owl films. Great photographs of a wonderful bird.

[@SteveMattheis]

thanks!🙏

[@soumenroychowdhuryphotogra864]

Can sit all day :D... Beautiful Steve loved it!

[@hacky296]

WOW! I guess we may as well all pack up our gear seeing as you've managed to get pretty much every conceivable shot. Superb collection, thanks for sharing. (now off to sulk in the corner!)

[@SteveMattheis]

Haha please don't do that. Hopefully you feel inspired about what can happen when you are out there with a camera enjoying nature and making photos... You never know when something magical will happen right in front of you!

[@cesarm8811]

Spectacular photos Steve. They are such beautiful birds. Looking forward to your next video.

[@SteveMattheis]

thanks!🙏

[@evgenygorshkov9893]

Hi Steve ! The introduction - no comments !!! Video - just supper !!!

[@SteveMattheis]

thanks!🙏

[@thomaskolceski4282]

Steve thanks for sharing! Simply said, fantastic!!!!

[@SteveMattheis]

thanks!🙏

[@avivaadler4253]

Love your work! At 13:48, when the owl is walking the length of a bare tree branch, in slow motion -- love this!

[@SteveMattheis]

🙏

[@GaryGough]

Incredible film as always Steve. Wow, look at it fly (pardon the pun) 👏👏 very well deserved too 👍🏻

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks Gary, as always I appreciate your support🙏

[@ANRO7524]

Hi Steve, really great owl shots, I especially liked the in-flight shot where the owl is leaning back while approaching a tree. The walking sequence towards the end with the type of music that you used was also really nice/ cool.

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks!🙏

[@tonyvaldivia7300]

Music + owl=Happy! Thanks!

[@HannahBMann]

Owls are on my Yellowstone bucket list. Amazing!! Misbehavior kills--glad to hear the good report.

[@jw0001]

Nice to see your owl shots again. Great video and photos!

[@SteveMattheis]

thanks!🙏

[@paulinefollett3099]

Simply brilliant .

[@WildlifePatrol]

Can’t wait to get back to the Tetons!
🦉 🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉

[@brandt_bennett]

Fun video! Digging the red hat! Is that another arc’teryx one? I love the pictures of the owl walking along the branch

[@philipculbertson55]

Wow. Simply awesome Steve.

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks!🙏

[@arnoldvanharmelen5381]

Great footage Steve, awesome! Love your camo-outfit by the way ;-)

[@bradzaruba9686]

Wow. Luck is where preparation meets timing. Awesome effort today. I can see why you love spending time with the owl.

[@faerphoto]

Wow! Great little video. All the shots were amazing but the sequence at the end walking along the branch was amazing! It's really the only time I wished my own camera had a higher fps to get something like that. Lol, of course, it would require me to have it it continuous burst mode or whatever it's called, rather than single shot, so I wouldn't have been able to get it anyway, haha. Anyway, it was still awesome to see. So glad you had a great morning with the owl. Cheers from Maine. :) Paula

[@SteveMattheis]

Glad you enjoyed it👍

[@599miata]

Excellent work Steve. 👌👌👌

[@nickbanga378]

Wow man you made me speechless with this magical content! Next level awesomeness

[@amber40494]

Gorgeous great Grey owl! Patterns on his body feathers remind me of armor!

[@travborger]

Great video, thanks for sharing. I've been on the hunt for some 🦉's to shoot but they've been very elusive up here in Alberta.

[@asifalam223]

Really Awesome moment you captured well and share with us... Buddy 👌👌

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks!🙏

[@marilyngiannuzzi9867]

Oh wow,totally awesome! Thanks for sharing with us photographers that aren’t able to capture greats photos of the grey owl!

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks!🙏

[@keithdickson8364]

Beautiful images. You nailed it.

[@SteveMattheis]

thanks!🙏

[@andyheywoodsphotographya-h7913]

Awsome pics Steve and great videos love it. all the best Andy from Cumbria U.K.

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks!🙏

[@ibhelleswildlife]

Just awesome Steve 🦾🦾🦾

[@richproctor7023]

Holy Moses! It landed right by you.

[@merkin22]

Just. Wonderful!

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks!🙏

[@MHarenArt]

The first few minutes of video and your music choice may be my favorite of all the video you've done!!! Just a really feel good 3 1/2 minutes of that beautiful creature with really enjoyable music! The last segment too. That little walking segment you put together on the branch was outrageous!!! Loved it! Just super fun to watch and listen! Steve, I'm a painter. I wonder if you would allow me to screen cap one of these photos to use as a reference for a painting. I don't sell my paintings for a living, it's only a hobby and occasionally a friend may want one. But I never use someone's image without asking for permission, and will of course, understand if you prefer I don't take the screen cap. Thanks.

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks for the feedback about the video 👍 shoot me an email about the painting

[@VABrowneMDPhD]

Another awesome experience, Steve!

[@SteveMattheis]

Absolutely👍👍

[@sornberg]

All the images were absolutely stunning. Thanks for sharing your experience through videos and photos.

[@wildlife-on-site]

Awesome video! Love you channel so much! Just wondering if the GGO really like your red fashion.😋

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks!🙏 and nobody likes my fashion, including me😬

[@boscomac2434]

I see you took advantage of the opportunity that Great Grey offered. Well done! 👍👍👍

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks!🙏

[@gerfaut7dh287]

Hello Steve Thank you for this very nice sharing , stunning shots +++ Very beautiful bird ... Friendships from France Didier

[@PhotographybyTimWMoore]

A lifetime volume of awesome owl shots! Steve, I found a location in Eastern Oregon that I will go explore and hopefully find some grey owls. I’ll keep you posted.

[@SteveMattheis]

Yay! Maybe I'll need to come to Oregon for a visit 😬

[@juanarroyo5324]

stunning !!!!!! i love all the shots ..especially the action shots !!!!!! GOD BLESS !!!

[@TheMrSarcastic]

Oh the footage with the wind blowing the feathers around is so cool. Fantastic stuff once again!

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks!🙏

[@aaronbrown_shoots]

Amazing video as always Steve! To me, they are the best part of TH-cam

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks!🙏

[@crittaker]

Awesome, Steve...loved every minute of it. Glad you found an owl!

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks!🙏

[@andybone]

congratulations steve awesome images great video

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks!🙏

[@inthewoodswithbigfoot3941]

Loving the channel Steve! It makes me dream about how I could possibly get to the point of doing this for a living! Thanks for sharing!

[@ianporter1600]

Amazing work Steve, you’ve made my night thanks for sharing . There’s some luck there as you said, but I think it’s more your reward for your persistence, dedication, and knowledge of the area. I’m really glad you got that two hours of bliss 👍😃

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks!🙏 me too😬

[@CarloDidier]

Great pictures, as always, but that very last one blew me away!

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks!🙏

[@danwilliams6223]

Just spectacular

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks!🙏

[@justingates1122]

Good job Steve geat pics for sure

[@SteveMattheis]

thanks!🙏

[@Jerseymikephoto]

Great stuff Steve! I particularly liked the walking along the limb sequence.

[@SteveMattheis]

Thank you sir🙏

[@georgefourlaris7948]

Amazing Steve. Two hours!! I'll settle for 20 minutes..Thanks for sharing. Excellent as always!

[@CamillaI]

Great Grey owl photos sometimes you just get lucky 2 hours you wouldn't get in an owl sanctuary !👌😍

[@mikecrowley6485]

Great Video Steve, and what a brilliant selection of Photos. Just great 👍🏻

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks!🙏

[@rolindowndriver]

Awesome footage! The intro was outstanding, one day you'll have to explain how you got the owl to fly, hunt, consume prey and crap to the rhythm of the music. Bravo Maestro Bravo !!!

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks!🙏

[@mikemiller5661]

Love your vlogs. As an amateur wildlife photographer, I sympathize. People are the worst! A little consideration goes a long way. Love your zen attitude about a frustrating avocation! Wildlife photography is hard! I fail so much more than I succeed.

[@R0cKSteDee]

Your Great Great Owl videos are my favorite! =D

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks!🙏

[@PentaxLife]

Great shots !!!!

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks!🙏

[@terryroth2855]

All I can say is, Sweet.👍👍

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks!🙏

[@themountainwanderer]

Beautiful! Thank you so much for taking the time to make these inspiring videos and sharing them with us. I don't have the means to acquire the high end equipment you use or sign up for your workshops, but I am still having fun being out in the wild, shooting and learning from masters like you. The last shot in the video is just the crowning!

[@SteveMattheis]

Glad you enjoy the videos, have fun out there👍👍

[@naturallyadriftphotoadvent123]

Awesome as always!

[@SteveMattheis]

thanks!🙏

[@STATTS01]

You outdid yourself this time! Wonderful photos and the video footage was amazing! Awesome job!

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks!🙏

[@garykuiken6191]

Great still's and awesome video. Must get back there once border opens again. Looking forward to the snowy owls showing up her sometime soon. P.S. Up north of the 49th what we call Gophers are actually Richardson ground squirrels. They would be a real mouthful for an owl plus they hibernate in later summer fall and disappear till spring. Again great video and stay safe.

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks!🙏

[@DeeDeeDIY]

Amazing!

[@mtnmotiv5612]

awesome video!!! loved seeing you out there

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks!🙏 and thanks for saying hi, I enjoyed seeing your video too👍

[@rogerapplegatephotography5500]

Steve - as always, fantastic video. Those were some amazing shots!

[@SteveMattheis]

thanks!🙏

[@haroldbielstein3530]

Thanks for that Steve. Incredible as usual! We have a similar environment here in the higher Black Hills but it seems the Great Gray Owl range simply doesn’t extend this far to the east. I keep searching to no avail!

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks!🙏

[@wendym1111]

Amazing! Incredible shots Steve!! 💕

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks!🙏

[@StevenKingMarch051961]

Hey Steve keep the great video's coming and wow you take awsome photo's thanks so much.

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks!🙏

[@BullitTom]

Awesome as always. Great to see shots with the 300mm too, as I have this lens. Longest lens I’ve got for my D850. Last image my favourite 😍

[@HabeebRWildlifePhotography]

Really beautiful steve

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks!🙏

[@cruzbeckham2504]

Amazing work awesome amazing video

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks!🙏

[@phooesnax]

Awesome set of photos Steve! Thank You

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks!🙏

[@paulsahota1773]

Great video and shots Steve! I love the walking on the branch sequence. It’s nice to see people push the iso. I also shoot with the D850 and have a few images at iso8000 that I’m happy I have.

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks!🙏 yep, crank it up when you need to👍

[@danpepper9041]

Awesome pics

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks!🙏

[@jasonkoch3181]

Darn! I could barely handle all that goodness! 😅🔥👌👌

[@SteveMattheis]

I could barely handle it myself👍

[@nightknight_OM1]

Awesome, impressive

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks!🙏

[@teamdata]

Nice work!

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks!🙏

[@carstenpusch4480]

Superb video. Love your fotostyle. Good Work! 😊👍🤓

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks!🙏

[@jamesmonte3165]

Beautiful images Steve

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks!🙏

[@wendytodd9673]

Fantastic video. Enjoy your work

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks!🙏

[@markattardo]

Awesome day!

[@SteveMattheis]

For sure👍

[@old4004]

A great day's work, Steve, with some of your best owl coverage ever. The blurred backgrounds really made the owl pop. Do you use auto iso?

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks! And yes I was using manual mode with auto ISO some of the time.

[@Golfing4100]

AWESOME!!!

[@SteveMattheis]

thanks!🙏

[@wowazaharow3930]

Это супер круто! Молодец, удачи бро😊

[@johnd746]

Great pictures, and video.

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks!🙏

[@gregwilsonnaturephotography]

Hey Steve! Friggin' insane man.... Fantastic still shots and the video is awesome as well. The walking on the branch was perfect and great fun to watch. Was any of the video footage done with the D850? I have a bugger of a time keeping the D850 and D500 in focus when I am out. Sayin' hey..... Greg

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks!🙏

[@SteveMattheis]

All of the footage was with the GoPro or a D850. I left the Z7 in the car because the AF sucks for owls in flight... But it would have been better for the video...

[@peanutchu7903]

Hi Steve, seen all of the video's, just awesome. I check everyday hoping you have a new video ready. Question, have you thought of getting a D6 or D5. I know you shoot a lot in tough light/or dark. I have the D6 and D850. I love the D6 when I don't want to have to juggle shutter speed and iso when light is an issue. To me, D850 iso at1600, is similar to D6 6400, that just a eyeball generalization of noise. But I do love the D850 when light is not an issue and 45mp detail. Also, I just started doing video's, not easy in the beginning. Lot's of iteration of issues that you have to worked out. But, I try to emulate that way you do things, so Thank you for doing what you do. I just read a message below, I agree, this is probably a nice to have because it is costly.

[@SteveMattheis]

Yep, a d6 would have been perfect for that day...

[@brucegraner5901]

Beautiful work as always. Floating ISO to keep up with the action? Do you think being an owl in Yellowstone Park has helped make the bird less skittish when performing for an "owl jam" of photographers? I'm lucky to even catch a glimpse of one in Florida let alone be able to photograph this type of behavior. I really liked the owl walk on the limb at the end of the video 👍👍.

[@SteveMattheis]

Great gray owls are known for being tolerant of people. They all have different individual personalities too and this one was extra tolerant.

[@brucegraner5901]

@@SteveMattheis Last year myself and another photographer were walking along a small wooded area in the Ft. Pickens area of Gulf Islands National Seashore when we saw the south end of something big and white take off from a tree and disappear (maybe a barn owl). Moments later we thought we saw the bird perched in the side of a tall snag. We were able to take a few photos before we realized what it was. One of these days I'll have to show you our photo of a "Bark Owl." :)

[@ianbrown704]

Not bad, only joking these are sublime Steve

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks!🙏

[@mitchbergner2795]

Awesome shots. if I could give you two thumbs up, I would....

[@SteveMattheis]

thanks!🙏

[@stevea406]

fantastic pics and videos. my question for you is clothes color. i've been reading that birds see a broader spectrum of colors than we do as well as having amazing range of vision. does your red/purple ever disrupt photo ops? obviously not at this shoot given the results.

[@SteveMattheis]

Not that I've noticed. They all hear us coming a mile away anyways...

[@IanWilkinson]

Greats photos and video. Are you ever tempted to throw some flash light onto your subjects in those low light situations in order to keep the ISO down?

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks!🙏 and no I won't use flash on owls.
Why? www.audubon.org/get-outside/audubons-guide-ethical-bird-photography

[@IanWilkinson]

@@SteveMattheis Good for you. Ethics also come to play within my main interest, which is insect macro photography, where some questionable practices are unfortunately quite common.

[@loren206]

Hi again Steve. Great vid, as always. I saw you there on that bird that day. (I'm the guy you met along with Paul , on the cinnamon black bear by the Rockefeller Preserve). I drove in from the east entrance when it opened and spoke to you out my car window. I just missed the show by a few mins. I did have two amazing encounters later that day though. I got on to a wolf for some epic shots a couple hours later. instagram.com/p/CHGuS8rgst4/. Then on the way home I found Raspberry and her cub walking the road. So close to the car I had to do head shots out the window. Went back for several days before the park closed and got some more epic shots. The birds were amazing. A few days after this day I was hand holding and waiting to get some flight shots on a perched bird. I was frozen in place for a while. I guess the bird thought I would make a good perch. He flew off his perch and I got some amazing incoming flight shots with the bird staring directly at me. He kept coming until he got too close to focus. I stayed frozen and he landed on my camera. Another friend got the shot: instagram.com/p/CG_afVyAhZg/

[@SteveMattheis]

Wow, amazing! Good times...