There’s nothing I love more than falling asleep to the plaintive hooting of Moreporks. It’s something that speaks of home to me – we live near a forest and they often range into the neighbourhood. I miss their sound when I’m at university and I’m woken up by Black-backed Gulls screaming from their roosts atop the city buildings. Photographing Moreporks is something I’ve never really had the chance to do, until we unexpectedly ran into one while walking the base track of Mount Maunganui at dusk. I wasn’t really prepared for Morepork photography, so I had to make do with the on-camera flash. It wasn’t ideal, but I did get a serviceable image. Unfortunately:

Both Lightroom and Photoshop have tools for red-eye correction – I personally prefer the Photoshop tool, but it still fell a little short for these great orbs of fire, so a bit of selective burning was required to get them nice and black. I also increased the brightness of the irises to make them stand out a little more. So there you go! First Morepork image, may there be many more.Anna, who was holidaying with us at the time managed an even better shot! Look at that gorgeous background. I’m so proud of the way she’s progressed. She only started a year ago (with a second-hand D40 that promptly kicked the bucket), and she’s now making some stunning images with her  D3100 and 55-300mm lens. I’m looking forward to future photographic adventures with her. Having a hobby that I can share with friends and family is something very precious to me, and I value the time spent together in pursuit of great images.