The Long and Short of It

Yesterday, Erik Bruhnke and I stood side by side photographing a nearby Great Gray Owl. Erik is 6'0"; I am 5'4". His photo, on the right, is the better one: He doesn't have the magnification set quite as high as mine (we were both using the new Canon 100-400 mm lens), and with just a little less magnification, he had both a better view of the owl and more depth of field. But the funny thing is that from his higher vantage point, the owl's head is seen against the background trees. I was much more looking up at it, putting the sky behind the owl's head.