The Story Behind the Painting

Well there was a rumour that we had some Tawny Frogmouths on the property of Possum Park. So after listening to the frogmouth’s call on my phone app, I managed to hear it one night so off I went with my head torch, a hat and a swarm of flying insects. Which by the way don’t taste very nice.

After about half an hour of searching with a head torch, with very depleted batteries. I briefly illuminate something with orange eyes that flew off into the moonless night. After only managing to step on the loudest and most brittle twigs that sounded like firecrackers I’m not surprised.

On the second night I replaced my torches batteries so I could avoid all the loud sticks for slightly less quieter ones. I also wore my buff over my mouth so I wouldn’t swallow any insects either. They still managed to get into my eyes though. After about ten minutes of walking I came across the Illusive Frogmouth, now the challenge was to photograph it.

Unfortunately I only have the popup flash on my Canon 90D and with a 600mm lens it’s not the most ideal combination. So this is where the fun starts, as the autofocus with a large lens doesn’t seem to be very compatible. I changed to manual focus and looking though the viewfinder with a head torch on creates all sorts of problems all I could see was black with an occasional flash of something.

The first photo I took didn’t even have the bird in the frame, I totally missed it. The next photo was very blurry but had a bird shape, so I refocus and the shot got worse. So I refocused the other way and it was getting slightly better. This is when the frogmouth decided it make things a little more difficult by hopping to another branch.

After about 12 flashes I managed to get a few sharp images of the poor thing. I watched it for a bit with the red light on my torch to let its eyes adjust.

After about five minutes of me watching only, Tawny realised they were no longer in the spotlight and their 30 seconds of fame was over. It decided to fly off and look for another modelling career elsewhere down the paddock. Or maybe it was just hungry and spotted a mouse.

My Painting Process

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Gouache on Canson Paper

For my Black Label collection I use Winsor & Newton Gouache on Black Colourfix Art Spectrum Paper or Black Mi-Teintes Touch Canson Paper.

My painting come from my own experiences that I have photographed while traveling. By reading this blog, you as a viewer can now hear The Story Behind the Painting. Where, when, what was happening while I was photographing the wildlife. 

Enjoy, Chris Osborne