Because

The Eastern Screech Owl was safely tucked away back, deep in the riparian forest. Nearly everyone had walked right past it, not taking note of the sleeping little ball of feathers. A tad larger than a dollar bill, its cuteness is off the chart. The times you can look at an owl at eyelevel in the daylight are few. There was one little alleyway through all the leaves, tangles, and branches to get a shot. But the light was backlit with many blown-out highlights. Flash would have made more of a mess of the photo than helped. Any other bird, I would have just walked on as the photograph just wasn’t that strong. But it’s just so darn cute! It’s one of those moments, memories that I wanted to preserve. So I made the shots horizontal and vertical to bring home that moment. Because