The theme in this challenge was very wide, so I had in fact several ideas in the beginning.

I decided to show my interest for birds, especially the bird of the Crow family. I hope this film has given you a more shaded view of these birds. Even though they are very shy I managed to get some real good close-up of them thanks to my long lenses.

The largest lens used is the Canon 500mm f4.0 L, which give a focal length of 3600mm with the Canon XLH1. I was also using the Sigma 300mm f2.8 and the original 20x HD L lens.

The distance to the bird from where I was hiding was approx. 30-30 meter on the close shoot and the White Tailed Eagle was sitting approx. 250-300 meter away.

Some of the footage are shoot in snow and windy conditions which is a real challenge to get good qualityfootage. But I found that some of these footage are so beautiful by itself, example: where the Raven are taking care of each other, that I decided to go for it.

I also hope that my narrating was understandable? English is not my native tongue, so I struggled a lot with this subject.

Link to the film: Corvus Corax (http://www.uwolchallenge.com/challenge2/PJN_UC2_corvuscorax.mov) (40.3 MB)
I have also provided a larger version at my website: Corvus Corax - large (http://www.video-film.no/snutter/uwol/pjn_corvuscorax_lg.mov) (64,8 MB)

Enjoy!

Per,
Incredible footage. You film was the first one I watched.
Beautiful color, beautiful composition. Great job on getting the ravens audio too!

The only negative I have to say about this film was I thought the titles didn't fit the beauty of the footage. I think maybe a more organic or simple look instead of the chrome look would have worked better, at least for me.

Your VO was just fine, it was clear, concise and easily understandable.

The driving snow, the wind all added to the beauty of the film.

Once again, you've set the bar high.

Congrats on a fine film.

You have a wonderful eye for beauty. And a talent for getting that into the video. Well done. Very well done.

That's my favorite bird and I loved the shots -great job!

I just got to have an EF adapter for my camera, Per Johan, and buy me some new lenses. Beautiful video!

Per,
Your entry from UWOL 1 was good...it didn't strike me as much as this one though! The use of different focal lenths really looked professional and just "right" I guess. It draws the eye into the subject and reveals levels of detail as you move closer and closer to it. You certainly have some excellent equipment and a keen eye to utilise it. All the best and congratulations on an excellent video!

Very nice footage, showing the ravens in their habitat and balanced with closeups of their behavior. You have a very powerful lens- even showed some details I didn't really want to dwell on with the feeding sequence! I liked the shots showing the ravens socializing with each other, made them very human.

Ruth

Per Johan,

Simply beautifully done!

Wery fasinating film Per Johann,the sound was wery nice.

The only negative I have to say about this film was I thought the titles didn't fit the beauty of the footage. I think maybe a more organic or simple look instead of the chrome look would have worked better, at least for me.
Thanks for your feedback Kevin, I was trying lots of different fonts and looks and I can agree that this maybe wasn't the best one! But the problem is that the picture is so tiny in the 428x240 mode, that I have to use some real large fonts and colors which differ from the background to get it readable.

I didn't really want to dwell on with the feeding sequence!
I'm glad I had a black&white viewfinder on this shoot, didn't realise the colorness in the flesh before I was at home :-) By the way they are feeding on a carcass of an elk.

Thanks all for your feedback!

Absolutely agree with the first reply.

The footage was gorgeous and I really like this entry. The title seemed really out of place though. It just doesn't seem to fit.

Other than that... awesome work!

Mike

Per Johan,

Very nice entry. I actually liked it as good as the first.

Regards,

Heres my take. The footage was beautiful. It will impress the judge of this film contest, and is likely, from a technical standpoint, the winner.

The footage of the birds preening each other, and the actual feeling of concern the birds have for each other is spectacular.

My only issue with the film is whether it addresses the theme proposed in the contest.

Wonderfuld film... I have learned a lot from your two films !!!

Chris, I might have misunderstood if the theme is more specific that I was aware of?

Before I started, I had to look it up in a dictonary, just to make sure that I was doing the right thing.
In the dictionary the word recreation means a lot: restoration, amusement, pastime, division, relaxtion, recuperation, rest, hobby, encouragement, incentive etc, etc...

What I have shown in the film is my encouragement, hobby, recreation, rest, what I do every so often in my sparetime to get away from my daily work.

Well Per.....as I would expect visually stunning, great levels of detail and an interesting subject matter, informatively presented....I thought your voice over wasn't bad either. The crow family are some of the most intelligent birds in the world and you can really see that in them. I look foward to seeing your footage and you never seem to fail the impress and deliver.

For me you had a number of stunning sequences with good points to make however you didnt pull it together into a single story strongly enough. A premise or reason was missing I guess.

It was also a tenuously linked subject matter, however if you wanted to shoot wildlife it was a tough one I know

Overall fantastic ingredients but you could have baked a better cake. I think there is a film waiting here for you when you've finished with your musk ox !!

Wow Per, you are incredible! Even after compression, it looks a billion times better then my camera... I am really jealous. Your footage is outstanding!!!
I think you may have just won Two in a Row (crow, lol.... not funny....)!!!!!

Great stuff, I loved the narration on it. It was really nice. All together, it was the most amazing, awesome, incredible, and outstanding piece of work I have ever scene.

Thank you Per, for being in this contest and showing me something to look forward at.

~Gabriel

Per Johan, as always you have managed to capture the birds in a very good way.
Even though I feel that the story itself is kinda missing to a certain degree as others have commented too, I think you made a great video. And you definitely show "recreation" in my eyes.

Per,

This is definitely in my top four choices!!! As expected. I loved the ravens grooming each other showing the nicer side of the corvid family!!!!!

did you bait them in?? if not you were pretty darn fortunate to find them!!

I have never seen a white tailed sea eagle!!!! I hav e read about them and imagined they were kind of like a bald eacle with out the white head!! But they are actually quite different!! Truly a great piece of footage!!!!!

so, did you plan it or find the set up and then build around it?? either way it is truly brillant!!

What an inspiration

Very nice, I thought your accent added an interesting dimension to the film. Enjoyed your web site as well.

Chris, I might have misunderstood if the theme is more specific that I was aware of?



First of all, there is no real hard guideline to go by, as far as I know on the themes on the DVInfo, so you are free to interpret as you see fit. The judge will make a final decision on that issue.

However, I also think that you are one of the premiere shooters showing work here. I look forward to seeing all of your material. It is spectacular, and something for the rest of us to aspire to.

Most of us here do our shooting as a hobby, and a leisure time activity, so my feeling was that I could not just go out and shoot whatever I want, and say it quaifies, because its my recreational activity.

From you, I would have liked to see you stretch to filming more on theme rather than use a tenuous connection.

I have met a few bird watchers. This is more than a hobby, it is a passion, and since it is the way that he enjoys himself, I think birds were pretty much on topic, for him anyway. It would not have been for me though. For me it would have been shots of Disney World activities. That is how I enjoy myself. Yet people might have not seen that link.

So yes, I can see where people might have taken that as a tenuous link to the theme. Which is partly why I went the way I did. But for Per Johan I think the link was substantial enough.

Per:

Thank you. This is a beautiful and captivating film. Your cinematography is exquisite and I also felt your narration added to the film.

The only detour from your perfection is the abrupt end. We as viewers are so drawn in and captivated by what you are feeding us in visuals that when you quit it's a bit of a jolt.

Thanks for sharing with us such great talent.

Cat Russell
Spike Productions

Most of us here do our shooting as a hobby, and a leisure time activity, so my feeling was that I could not just go out and shoot whatever I want, and say it quaifies, because its my recreational activity.

From you, I would have liked to see you stretch to filming more on theme rather than use a tenuous connection.

Some of you might think that I am an professional wildlifephotographer but I'm not! I'm only doing this in my sparetime, also the filmproject about the muskoxen is done at my sparetime. I wouldn't been competing here if I was, because that would have been unfair to the rest of this community!

I'm working 100% as an computer engineer at the University of Oslo, so my photo/video skills is self-educated, and of course developed after many, many hours out in the wilderness.

I'm sure you could fool many of us Per.

Per Johan if anyone think you are a professional, take it as a compliment of your skills. Because you do great artwork with the camera.
Your videos are always good and interesting to watch, and I have learned a lot by watching them.
Keep them coming.


Trond

Per:

Didn't mean my post to sound disrespectful. Only that you do beautiful stuff on the wild life side, and I would have loved to see it stretched a bit in a new area. Please don't take offense.

And yes, most in this contest are the same-- hobbiests doing this type thing for the fun of it. And that is what I meant, I think these contests are meant to make us stretch outside of what we know...

Per
You got some excellent footage again. You obviously put in the time required to get it. Personally I think you could compete with a lot of the pros and it wouldn’t bother me if you where a pro. I really enjoy watching your videos.

Gordon Hoffman

My 2 cents...

I personally think Per Johan's work is professional, now at this point he may not be being paid to produce it, but that is not my point. Per's work is of a professional standard. The cinematography, soundtrack, his work in post... all to a professional standard, and something I think we should all strive for.

In this case of UWOL #2, I voted for Mat's entry as #1 over Per because I think he better represented the theme. I don't think that Per didn't represent the theme. Birdwatching in itself is one of the most popular past-times on the planet.

I have a production company, young Gabriel, Meryem and others have production companies... that makes us professionals (theoretically). It doesn't mean we're disqualified from competing.

When you want to enter many film festivals, it is honor just to be selected as an entrant. I have no problem if Steven Dempsey or Jacques Mersereau or other professionals had entries in the challenge.

I don't recall restricting entries when we set up the challenge. Someone please correct me if I am wrong on that.

Beautiful footage of some very interesting birds and their behavior. I think you and I and probably Dale too all share a passion for birds and their lives. I've seen a lot of Raven behavior, but most of it has been in their breathtaking aerial displays. This shows me a new aspect of their life...an intimacy I had not seen before.

I know some people might not make much of a connection between bird study or nature study and recreation, but it surely is such for many, many people. It just depends on what you enjoy in the outdoors. For some skiing, hiking, biking and for others collecting native fish, astronomy, studying salamanders, looking at wildflowers...whatever. That's why I think both of these contest themes were brilliant. They allowed so many people to express themselves with their own interpretations. You did it well.

Rick

Per, fasinating footage, you took a bird that most of us ignore or concider a pest and showed us yet again the beauty in nature. All you have to do is take the time to look. I will never look at a crow in the same way that I saw them before watching your stunning video. Per Johan, you may not be a "Professional Wildlife Videographer", but you sure as heck are a "GREAT Wildlife Videographer" and an inspriation to us all. Bob Safay

ps. I also have a "production company", (EnviroVision Productions), and I have produced numerous videos/DVD's for both EPA and for my Agency, (not my real job, just what I do in conjuntion with everything else), does that make me a professional?

Hi Per,

Great stuff. Ravens and crows are such interesting birds. I enjoy watching their behaviour and enjoyed watching your film. Have you read "The Raven in Winter"? A great book by a scientist studying their behaviour in New England.

Good to see the White-tailed Eagle. I saw one on the isle of Mull a few years back (being mobbed by Hooded Crows!). They were re-introduced from Norway. Thank you very much!