Normally I shy away from these type of threads because of the emotions that are involved, but like someone I know says "You gotta stand for something in life, otherwise you're gonna stand for nothing." :) Let's face it, there are reasonable and sound opinions on both side of the (baiting) issue in raptor photography. It's a gray world. I have followed these types of threads before and find myself agreeing with both sides of the argument, to some extent. I have never baited an owl, but I've certainly thought about it, and can understand why one might do it. I have seen ALOT of owl images through my participation in an online nature photography website, and what I really like is when the photographer denotes if the subject was baited or not. Then, depending on your stance, you can make your own value judgements with full knowledge of how the image was created. I have seen many AWESOME and DRAMATIC images of owls, (that if the photographer is to be believed), did not result from baiting the subject, but rather through time spent, knowledge of the subject, dedication, and LUCK! I have also seen many AWESOME and DRAMATIC images of owls that were a direct result of baiting. I was really hoping that this year's Sax/Zim birding festival was going to have some type of photography component to it, with knowledgeable instructors that could lead a field trip focused on bird photography, (I heard rumors that it might last year), in order to build understanding and mutual respect between "birders" and "bird photographers" and everything in between, as well as promote how much fun bird photography can be in conjuction with birding. We have some very talented bird photographers in this state, that are members of this MOU community, as well as many talented birders, all are no doubt caring and ethical folks to varying degrees. Personally, I think MOU does an excellent job of bringing bird watching and bird photography together for an excellent well rounded website experience. There will always be individuals, who for whatever reason, go a little to far (ethically), and Sparky is right, there needs to be dialouge with those folks to promote mutual understanding from both sides of the "debate". Just as an aside, I put up an image in the showcase section of MOU that is part of a series of images that I took of a hawk owl hover hunting in the bog. No bait was used. I watched the owl for three hours while standing in knee deep snow and had the great luck of the owl hover hunting close by. Bird photography is similar to birding from the aspect of "time spent equals results". Anyway, I'm starting to ramble, take care out there, and good birding to ya! Shawn Zierman. **************Inauguration '09: Get complete coverage from the nation's capital. (http://news.aol.com/main/politics/inauguration?ncid=emlcntusnews00000003)
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