vote for best picture

[skyhunter]

if these 2 pictures were entered in a trail cam contest which would you vote for?

1) owl

2) blue heron with fish in mouth

[Doc]

Pretty tough to pick one. The quality of both seem to be comparable. Probably from a contest standpoint, I would pick the heron pic. It just seems to be a bit more detailed and interesting.

[growalot]

I would pick the heron pic. It just seems to be a bit more detailed and interesting.

Also unusual in comparison...both are great though

[wooly]

Another vote for the heron. I think it all came together in that shot.

Also, I never knew herons hunted at night so it's educational as well!

[burmjohn]

voted!

[skyhunter]

voted!

thanks, and thanks to all for voting.

[Geno C]

blue herron!

[fasteddie]

I voted for the owl as getting a pic of one isn't that easy . I have seen many herrons .

[Doc]

Another vote for the heron. I think it all came together in that shot.

Also, I never knew herons hunted at night so it's educational as well!

Maybe that's not really a night picture, but just a condition of the shadows that set off the flash. Look at the upper left corner. Those trees or bushes seem to indicate daylight. I kind of wondered about that too because I have always understood that they were a "daytime" bird. At any rate, it is one heck of a picture.

[skyhunter]

Maybe that's not really a night picture, but just a condition of the shadows that set off the flash. Look at the upper left corner. Those trees or bushes seem to indicate daylight. I kind of wondered about that too because I have always understood that they were a "daytime" bird. At any rate, it is one heck of a picture.

good eye! yes the EXIF data file for this picture indicates that is was snapped off on June 11 at 6:11pm, and yes you can see a little daylight through the trees in the backround of this picture.

Now I'm not sure the internal time setting on the camera is correct or possibly off by one hour. (might be 7:11pm) You would think that on June 11, at 6:11 pm that there would still be a considerable amount of light present but there is much foilage in play here and it could also be a cloudy evening which could account for the low light levels. Also thunderstorm clouds can be very common this time of year and make it appear very dark even in the middle of the day.

keep those votes coming and yes, I appreciate it when you say why you like one over the other. I should have stated this in the first post as this is the primary reason for this topic. Thanks! . .

[TreeGuy]

heron is a cool and detailed pic.... but how often do u get a big ole owl on a trail can !? If the contest is pic then I vote heron. If its trail cam pic I vote owl..... both are cool pics either way !

[G-Man]

i like the color of the heron as a photo, the owl is cool but lack of color would keep it off my wall!!

[skyhunter]

I voted for the owl as getting a pic of one isn't that easy . I have seen many herrons

.

heron is a cool and detailed pic.... but how often do u get a big ole owl on a trail can !? If the contest is pic then I vote heron. If its trail cam pic I vote owl..... both are cool pics either way !

I understand the point about getting an owl on trail cam as opposed to a blue heron. Yes, an owl is rarer although I have seen a number of pics of them on bait as it appears is happening in this picture. The rock shaped object that the bird is standing on has a very odd 2 toned color to it that could indicate mineral block. Perhaps it is a very odd colored rock, but that doesn't explain the other odd shaped and odd colored objects on the ground next to it.

Here's the whole story. I'm a little ticked off and venting here trying to make myself feel better. I entered a years end trail cam contest that had various categories. One of them was "best bird" trail cam picture. I entered the blue heron and lost by 1 vote to this owl and posted this poll to try and understand why a picture of much lesser quality would get one vote more. Obviuosly I also started this poll thinking my heron picture should win a showdown with this owl picture. Now I do understand that guys are voting for the owl because they believe it is a rare catch as oppossed to a heron.

Now you have to ask yourself another question. While trail cam pictures of heron are more common than those of owls, how often do you catch a quality picture like this blue heron who also happens to have a fresh catch in it's mouth? When you speak of seeing many heron pictures is this the type that you have commonly seen?

Owl picture appears to have been baited; heron pictue was captured in it's natural environment durring a successful hunt. Now which do you really think is harder to get? Sorry for the venting, but if you were in my shoes and worked as hard as I do on the creek, you'd be a little peeved too.

Thanks for voting guys; after seeing that the heron has taken 74% of the vote, you all made me feel a little better now. . .

Edited February 4, 2012 by skyhunter

[Doc]

I guess I can't really swear that there is any bait there that an owl would be interested in. As far as I know they are not attracted to minerals and such. I will say that there appears to be some kind of junk in the picture that doesn't look too natural but I have no idea what it is.

However, just looking at the two pictures and considering the composition and coloration of each, there is no question that the artistic quality of the heron picture is much greater. Also, the addition of the fish does add interest to the whole picture. I have to agree that you should have won the contest. Maybe it was the "owl-guy's" uncle that was doing the judging ..... lol.