the ravens

Stacia and i finally had a few hours that we could photograph the ravens today. her trip to the north slope had been delayed due to the oil spill, which gave her an empty weekend to get together. i've always been interested in her research, and it's good timing that we fit some of my images into her work.

the two birds that she keeps in captivity, on campus, are used in the field as decoys enabling her to track, tag, and get samples from ravens in the oil fields. the aviary that she houses them in is about the size of a king size bed at the floor. the ravens don't much like company, but the shoot was thrilling. much more time spent dodging wings than shooting.