H2_W4_011

Date: LATE 1990

Location: Outskirts of Bangalore, Karnataka

Did you know?

The Barn Owl is the most widely distributed species of owl in the world and one of the most widespread of all species of birds, being found almost everywhere except for the polar and desert regions, Asia north of the Himalayas, most of Indonesia, and some Pacific Islands.

About the picture

This image was taken by my wife, Asha Jayakumar, in the dead of the night somewhere on the outskirts of Bangalore on Magadi Road. This photo was taken in the Analog era on film in the 90’s and the entire credit for taking this image goes to our mentor, ace photographer Late Mr TNA Perumal. As a team, we used to go to this place where the Barn Owl had nested and observe the owl cleaning the nest and bringing food every night to feed the chicks. We were very mindful of not disturbing the bird or the nest in any way whatsoever. After experimenting with various settings for close to 10-12 days, the perfect exposure settings were arrived at and we were able to click some good images for about 3-4 days thereafter. This is a digitised version of the original image.

Fun Fact

Contrary to popular belief, the Barn Owl does not hoot. It emits a screeching sound and can hiss like a snake to scare away intruders.