From Nelli Savelieva

On my morning walk, I decided to visit my old friend, the little Eastern Screech-Owl. Surprisingly, he was at his favourite roosting spots, tucked inside the old tree. Not asleep, as you might expect, but carefully preening his feathers.

It was fascinating to watch. A bird flew overhead-he looked up. A squirrel raced down the tree-he looked again. Then he heard the quiet click of my camera and turned those enormous eyes toward me. “Oh, it’s only you,” he said and calmly went back to grooming. It was a reminder of how special it is when wildlife chooses to trust your presence.

The photography, however, was another story.

It was early morning; the forest was still in deep shade, and not a single ray of sunlight reached him. The light was so poor that a normal handheld shot would have been far too noisy. Instead, I leaned my lens against the tree for extra stability, slowed the shutter all the way down to 1/10 second, set ISO 4000, and fired a short burst. Sometimes, a little creativity and a steady hand are the only “tripod” you have.

I’m happy the technique worked, because it let me capture one more quiet morning with an old friend. I hope these images let you experience a little of that magical morning with me.