One Nice Photo of a Great Gray Owl - Wildlife Photography in the Tetons

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[@JohnTomasella]

At this point the owls are like, " Oh it's just Steve, no need to panic."

[@davidobrien8121]

Pure magic Steve.

[@pammikewilliams3026]

You and the owls, what a great team. Keep up the great work.

[@evgenygorshkov9893]

Hi Steve !!! Wonderful, very wonderful !!! Fantastic !!!

[@donnaridgway2558]

Glad you made it so we got to see that awesome time with the owl!

[@J4Photo]

That’s a once in a lifetime closeup.

[@michaellyons5208]

That's a real keeper. And what a moment. Rare as they are, you have to love them when they happen. Jealous. :)

[@bobcat6653]

So cool of you to take us along! Thanks!

[@johngubbins4752]

Great video and beautiful owl😀👍🙏🙏

[@christinepepper4053]

Glad you didn't get eaten by a bear! Beautiful, thank you.

[@SteveMattheis]

Me too?

[@chuckgmanleyphotos7197]

The Owl Whisperer!! Amazing

[@kevincarolan4539]

Wonderful video Steve the owl does not seem to be distracted by the camera shutter noise.

[@MHarenArt]

That is a beautiful woodland! The chase is the fun part, the photo is the reward!! I could almost feel your excitement when that owl was so close to you!!!! Beautiful photos as usual!

[@hacky296]

Nature photography at its best! Absolutely wonderful Steve, I could feel the excitement of such a close encounter. Thanks for bringing the place I miss so much into my life.

[@BrentCizekPhoto]

What a beautiful forest. Great photo.

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks!🙏

[@TheMrSarcastic]

I had one similar experience last we you had with the GHO and Neowise. Dusk was on me and I stepped out on the deck and a hummingbird flew off the feeder and landed on a dead branch in the pine just near by. I took two steps to the left and the hummer was silhouetted against the 3/4s moon. When I stepped away to get the camera, off the hummer flew. Ugh. Great shot with the owl.

[@SteveMattheis]

Yep, it's hard being a nature photographer...

[@natpark182]

i hope someday to have the same expression on my face. love the video and super shot as usual. be safe.

[@JeffandLeslie]

We don't have gray owls around here but I have been close to barred and great horned owls. As a fellow nature/wildlife photographer I have had those special moments with deer where a mama with a fawn will just walk within a few feet of where I'm standing. I usually am so amazed I forget to take the photos. Also, with all those beautiful wildflowers in the aspen forest, I would be on cloud 9. Love to photo wildflowers. It's one of the things I remember most about the Tetons and Yellowstone. Thanks for sharing your videos.

[@davidschwab7716]

I had a very similar encounter with a Great Horned Owl recently... owls are so great at hiding in plain sight. Most people just walk right by them without even knowing it!

[@paulbivins6483]

Thanks

[@FotoHysteria]

Absolutely stunning shot!!

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks🙏

Nice shot. Greetings from Italy :)

[@pwalz100]

Way cool!

[@boscomac2434]

Is it possible that she was using you to stir up the ground critters as part of her hunt? Great pic! 👍👍👍

[@NeilJernigan]

Awesome encounter, video and image!! Great work as always & I really liked the way you put this video together!

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks!🙏

[@peterosterman5820]

wow so nice 👍,thanks for sharing ,I love your videos!

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks!🙏

[@JPLamoureuxsTravels]

Fantastic vlog buddy! Beautiful bird, I love owls and that’s one of the best! What a sighting, right next to you!stunning place too! I’ve just found your channel so have a new subscriber, thanks for sharing all the best JP

[@SteveMattheis]

Welcome!

[@jorgenpedersen5025]

Love your videos by the way!

[@GaryGough]

A truly amazing video. Thanks Steve for bringing us along again. Your video skills really made me feel I was there with you. I even held my breath when you noticed the owl just a feet away. Fantastic as always 👍🏻👍🏻

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks Gary, hope you are well!

[@Whoanly9]

Whenever something incredible happens, such as your closeness to the owl, I always feel like I'm in exactly the place in the universe where I'm supposed to be at that moment in time. It's very ethereal.

[@SteveMattheis]

Truth

[@lisamarie7527]

Wow Steve!! The moment you turned that GoPro and there she was, what an absolute moment of joy!! This has to be one of my favourite videos of your encounters with these magnificent creatures, only because of the look on your face of pure excitement!!! Awesome as always! Cheers 🍻

[@SteveMattheis]

👍🙏

[@carstenpusch4480]

Thanks for your walk in the woods with a owl - Great shot, great story 🤓👍

[@martinsepion]

What a great moment with a wonderful bird.

[@SteveMattheis]

Yes it was👍

[@ianbrown704]

Special moments don't always need a camera

[@OPMDS1]

that one moment at 11:50 where she looks up at and then looks over at you as if to say "You comin with?" then flies off... such a beautiful moment.. you sir are a LUCKY man to have stumbled upon that scene.

[@SteveMattheis]

Yep, that was supercool!

[@jerjaws]

I must say. Snowy owls and great grays are pretty friendly and tolerate humans

[@bruceleventhal3292]

It's all about the one shot!... Fantastic bookend to what looks to have been an amazing day in the woods.

[@balazsrevai7822]

Wow Steve 😨 what a Great cool moment out there !!! So you proofe it even with the 300mm lens you able to catch the moment ... reallly Great Buddy 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@crittaker]

Once again, you put me right in the forest with you and the owl...Thanks for sharing and keep 'em comin'

[@SteveMattheis]

Glad you enjoyed it👍

[@CamillaI]

Yes sometimes if you are out long enough, you just get lucky, made my day thanks for sharing😍

[@robertlawrence7958]

Lovely video Steve. The aspens make such a beautiful setting for the owl.

[@cesarm8811]

Hey Steve, I have to admit I am so jealous you get to photo and see these spectacular owl's in the wild. But at the same time I am really grateful I get to see them thru your lens. As always awesome video's. Stay safe!!!!

[@SteveMattheis]

🙏

[@terryroth2855]

Another wonderful outing Steve. You are indeed a master at finding and photographing the the Great Gray.👍👍

[@la_mitchell]

How cool was that! I had a similar experience with a Barn Owl flew on to a post right next to me I could have touched it that moment was worth a thousand photos..... great vlog as always Steve and super stunning images 😊

[@loricollins3163]

That was fantastic! I was in Felt, Idaho last week at a friends off grid cabin...such beauty and wonder in this part of our world. Each walk in the forest and every glance at the magnificent Tetons took my breath away. Thank you for taking me back to this magic. Loved your Great Gray Owl shot. You are a master. I cannot wait to return to this beauty.

[@SteveP_2426]

So beautiful Steve. The thought of just looking up and seeing one of those owls so close is just crazy!

[@VABrowneMDPhD]

Fantastic encounter! Brings back wonderful memories from October 2019.

[@SteveMattheis]

Yep that was so fun🙏

[@mikecrowley6485]

That was unreal Steve, just Brilliant 👍🏻

[@scarface1961]

I really loved this video. The owl so closed to you thrilled me as it did you and I was just watching the video. Great image as well.

[@keithmacdonald4805]

Another super video Steve, I love your Owl adventures.

[@SteveMattheis]

🙏

[@AndyGustavsson]

Fantastic video Steve, such a privilage to get allowed be so close to the owl, and cudos to you for just embrace it, most would properbly go after the head shot in a situation like that! Cheers!

[@wildlifebybrianhoule]

Excellent Steve! You're so correct that it's that one shot that makes a day. It could be 1 of 1 or 1 of many, but no matter the count, it's the experience. I spent 45 mins alone photographing a GGO this past winter and it's something I won't ever forget. I love the comment about it accepting you into its space. I think it's critical for people to remember we evolved in nature too so if you're quiet, respectful and still, many birds and animals will realize you're not a threat thus creating that acceptance.

[@ofsen]

Again a great and inspiring work! Thanks for sharing!🙏

[@brentnearhood8874]

Another great shoot! Steve

[@keithdickson8364]

Amazing adventure with such a beautiful bird. Great job.

[@SteveMattheis]

🙏

[@danwilliams6223]

Absolutely insane. Congratulations on the bonding moment.

[@SteveMattheis]

🙏

[@LieslHuddleston]

Awesome! What a beautiful, big owl! And a great quiet moment so close. I loved seeing all of the gorgeous wildflowers everywhere and the greenery, very nice video Steve!

[@SteveMattheis]

Glad you enjoyed it👍

[@phooesnax]

Awesome Thank You for sharing.

[@SteveMattheis]

🙏

[@EdsEverydayAdventures]

Beautiful shot. Love how you got so close to the one without even realizing it.

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks!

[@hramakrishnaiah413]

Fantastic image Steve...

[@brucegraner5901]

Beautiful aspen-owl image. I have a feeling you're out there so much the close-in owl just accepts you as part of the scenery:) Whatever the reason it was a nice moment. Thanks for sharing.

[@soumenroychowdhuryphotogra864]

Amazing steve. Missing my wildlife and photography so decided to lure some local birds for now on terrace garden with 30-40 nectar plants, figs tree, fruit trees, and with a couple of feeding stations. Love from India.

[@rolindowndriver]

Really Cool video! I have never seen a Great Gray Owl in the wild. All the species of Owls I have seen ,were very skittish. I'm just wondering if these Owls welcome your movements nearby, to help stir up the prey. Hmmm just a thought

[@ChristopherErringtonPhoto]

That was awesome!

[@akountreegal]

My dream is to find a Great Gray. Do you ever run into bear. When I was there I was a little leery about hiking through the forest. Love your videos.

[@MichalOlender]

Steve the owl (camera)hunter!

[@jameslove1092]

Hi Steve. Branchy really. If there was no branches there would be no trees and no owls. Your so fortunate. Keep clicking.

[@urlkrueger]

Love those aspen woods (or are those birch?). Next time take a sat phone with and upload the video while in the woods, then we will have to wait a whole week to find out if the bear got you or not.

[@hojjatahangarikiasari7670]

Unbelievable

[@keithtrauner1738]

Steve - can't believe you haven't gone mirrorless with dead silent shooting on burst. It's amazing for wildlife. was a canon shooter for many years and got the Sony A9 maybe three years ago - don't regret it for a second.

[@SteveMattheis]

Yep someday hopefully soon we will have global shutter...

[@tomiphakala]

That is a such beautiful landscape, looks a lot like forests in my home country Finland. Beautiful bird also! There are Great Grey Owls near my area also but they are so well hidden that is almost impossible to find them as a photographer.

[@williamstatt8651]

Great Steve.

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks!

[@garykuiken6191]

Great work. When you say gopher are referring to a Richardson Ground Squirrel. That a huge mouth full to down in one go.

[@SteveMattheis]

One of their primary for sources are pocket gophers👍

[@willitellus]

Nice shot!

[@SteveMattheis]

Thanks!

[@stevephillips9073]

LOVED your owl experience and realized how close you were able to get. I felt I was there with you, thanks to your GoPro. On another subject...I am going to Lake Powell next week and wondered if you have any suggestions for landscape Photography? Will be renting a houseboat and exploring different canyons for fun and photo ops with family. I have a Canon 70D (aging) with 24-70, 70-200, and 100-400 zoom lenses.

[@SteveMattheis]

Sorry but I've never been there so I don't have any advice...

[@599miata]

👌👌👌

[@joebecker3107]

Another awesome vid! Great images! Not sure if you use the collared foot to handhold, but if you don't, have you ever tried to flip it upside down so the foot is on top and mount your vlogging camera on the foot, so when you're handholding, keeping your supporting hand on the "top" of the collar (underneath the lens) you can rotate your camera to portrait and not have the vlogging camera turn sideways with it.

[@JohnDrummondPhoto]

It took me a while to figure out you have the GoPro mounted onto the Nikon's hot shoe. I'll have to look into that; I hope it isn't too cumbersome. Cool photos and video! is that the closest you've gotten to a Great Grey in the wild?

[@photografiaaustralis2131]

Great vlog Steve as usual. Why didn't you use silent mode on the Z7? That's one feature I wish I had to prevent critters from spooking.

[@SteveMattheis]

I was using the D850. Z7 AF can't track an owl flying through the woods

[@acraftman2823]

Yonk!

[@SteveMattheis]

Hmmm, I don't know what that means...

[@acraftman2823]

@@SteveMattheis That is really just a expression like when there are three people lined up for a cookie and you swoop in and grab it. It was my first time being the very first viewer of a new video and I felt too old to be the person saying FIRST! Plus I think proper spelling is yoink. I was in a hurry. kzbin.info/www/bejne/eXvLYpujorF_sNk

[@daviddowling9830]

You are at one with the owl.

[@SteveMattheis]

Haha I'm trying...

[@jorgenpedersen5025]

Great video and great encounter. However, not living in your area, or even in the US, are there not grizzlies where you just took the photos of the owl?

[@SteveMattheis]

Ive never seen a grizzly in that particular area but it's possible...

[@markattardo]

🤯 Wow! So glad you were able to hit record on the gopro and share. Is that the closest you've been? Love the picture too.

[@SteveMattheis]

I’ve had one touch me with it’s wing as it flew by before ... that was pretty cool...

[@markattardo]

@@SteveMattheis I'd say more than pretty cool😉

[@barryinn1778]

Fantastic, Do you ever get kinda lost and not know where you're vehicle is?

[@SteveMattheis]

Sure. It's fun getting lost (until you're 'too lost')

[@xhunter628x]

Hi Steve, just curious if you've given the Sony A7Riv a try? Im thinking about jumping into mirrorless with it.

[@mjd073]

Great video as usual...was that your closest encounter with the Great Grey?

[@SteveMattheis]

Nope...

[@jerjaws]

Love the owl videos as always. Curious questions. What type of protection do you carry on you for big predators you might run into? Saw you carry bear spray. Any fire arms ? Also does wearing camo help with making wildlife feel less threating while trying to photograph wildlife. I notice you don’t wear any. Some say it helps

[@SteveMattheis]

Bear spray is it almost always. Sometimes two cans... The owls hear a gopher under a foot of snow so they hear me coming from a mile away. Camo wouldn't change that so I don't bother. It wouldn't hurt but I don't think it helps.

[@danielbenejan4780]

Hi Steve I'm loving these videos! Keep them coming! You've inspired me to get into wildlife photography. I have one quick question. I see that you tend to hike off of the beaten path, which tends to be tick heaven. I live in FL and usually wear long pants and periodically do tick checks on myself while outdoors. i am looking into natural tick repellents and don't want to use chemicals that can harm me or scare away the wildlife. What would you recommend in preventing ticks? Do you use any types of repellents yourself? Thanks again!!

[@SteveMattheis]

We do have some ticks here but not like back east.

[@danielbenejan4780]

@@SteveMattheis Nice! I need to move out west then.

[@idol031808]

👍

[@dmac5x1]

Another great video, Steve! Thanks! Could you answer a quick question? I’m thinking about trading in my D750 for either a D850 or a Z7. How would you compare the two ? Recommendation? Thanks.

[@SteveMattheis]

Both are excellent but D850 AF is better for action.

[@dmac5x1]

Steve Mattheis, thank you, Steve !

[@brianfisher2006]

You mentioned a 70-300mm lens. Which version would that be? How good are the photos from that lens?

[@SteveMattheis]

The newest AFP version, it's way better than the old one

[@brianfisher2006]

@@SteveMattheis thanks, that's the one I have been considering.

[@dennisryckman5210]

Ive never seen an owl in real life

[@SteveMattheis]

They are out there. Watching you...

[@dennisryckman5210]

@@SteveMattheis That's not creepy at all! 😂