[Music] e [Music] they say that forests are a magical place a mysterious realm full of wonder and mag magic moments that you can observe if you only just [Music] look [Music] it was 2021 in Sydney Australia and the second lockdown we were having was pretty hot I decided to move to Centennial Park to my own studio apartment a fortunate Choice as a few days after that we went into a 5 km radius lockdown Centennial Park was now my whole world it was an time for me isolated from friends and The Grea
t Outdoors but at the same time I now had the Parklands next door to me my new home a world of Wonder and Beauty many people believe that the spirits of nature hold great healing powers that the animals of the forest are Gatekeepers to the spirit realm for me this proved to be true my head wasn't in a great place but I still had my passion a Relentless desire to serve for the beauty in nature it was as if the universe heard my calling the forest Spirits opening their doors for me to enter Becaus
e within a few hundred met from my new home was a new family too a family of powerful [Music] LS the owls had laid two eggs which hatched into two incredibly adorable [Music] Outlets they had been living inside a tree Hollow for a few weeks and had just taken their first steps outside with my University course put on hold until lockdown was over I had the time necessary to document the early stages of these allets [Music] lives [Music] [Music] [Music] my camera My Lens they became a portal for m
e a portal which transported me into their world close up amongst the tallest tree branches sitting beside them able to be a part of their newly discovered world the first few weeks of filming were a learning curve the owls often plac themselves high up in the trees there was a very small window of visibility to see them not only were the parents somewhat camouflaged but the trees foilage made them very difficult to find so many sticks branches and leaves blocking my view but this was a part of
their real protected and hidden in the trees a special place for the new allets to find themselves [Music] filming at huge focal lengths like this often manifest issues that don't occur for most filmmakers the smallest Shake of the lens in the wind would deem the footage unusable I can't say I've spent much time filming Birds before it seemed that I was paired well with the outlets they learning about their environment and existence and me learning how to navigate my new environment how to find
them study them and film [Music] them sometimes the hours would fly to another Branch I would try to follow them on camera but sometimes things don't always work out the way we want when I lost them on camera originally I would kind of panic and try to find them as quickly as possible I think because the camera's filled of view was quite narrow any large movements from the SS would throw off my perspective on where they were did they fly 3 m away 30 m i then thought about in my own personal life
how my narrow-mindedness might affect my perspective on life going on around me how do we change that how do we work on ourselves to be more aware of our surroundings if we can't see it for me filming the hours it became possible take my eye off the camera viewfinder and look around what can I see what are the other owls looking at can I hear anything else I'm a firm believer that we can find patterns and moments in nature that can reflect our own lives a perspective only possible if given the
time to think the time to analyze and to be introspective while also seeing the bigger World outside ourselves it seems like the gate to the owl's realm was becoming wider enticing me and pulling me in [Music] further [Music] [Music] over the course of the next few weeks I had developed a strong connection to this family Not only was I spending so long out with them filming them during the day and night but also after each filming session I was ingesting the footage onto my computer it gave me t
his immense feeling of knowing them personally knowing the way they would act or react to a certain situation knowing the feelings they felt just by looking at how they were behaving in some way I felt a part of their family I spent so much time watching them listening to them over the weeks I found that while filming the hours during the day created the best quality of images filming them at night opened up a whole other world of their activity they are after all nocturnal animals but I wasn't
used to shooting in such dark conditions it was near pitch black to the naked eye I had to open my senses up become more aware of my surroundings and learn the ways of the forest at [Music] night it was only with a full Moon and clear skies that I could Venture deep into the night and capture their [Music] habits to start with the parent would fly over to where the outlets were and he would hold certain bits of food in his beak and allow the young to grab [Music] it [Music] is [Music] [Music] th
e storm was approaching I was used to shooting in harsh weather but the storm looked pretty big the hours of course [Music] oblivious [Music] a great opportunity to see how the owls handled the harsher weather I thought I decided to lock off my tripod and hide underneath it to keep dry as the rain really started to pick [Music] up [Music] [Music] when the lightning became closer I decided to call it a night and go home to back up and review the footage the storm continued well into the night how
ling winds and heavy rain until late morning the next [Music] day [Music] when the rain subsided enough for me to venture out I decided to go and check on the hours perhaps they would have found a sheltered area to keep dry they were sitting a bit lower in the trees than I expected in fact this was probably the lowest I'd seen [Music] them but something wasn't right I was heavily saddened so only find three owls both owlets and one of the parents while sometimes a parent might be sitting a few m
eters away from the others in this case they were no longer to be found I searched for almost 3 hours looking up on the trees I didn't want to come to any conclusions too early but considering this was the first and biggest storm to hit the family was it possible that one of the parents died the other house seems to know something was [Music] wrong overcome with the wetness and rain that had hammered them all of the night just passed a cold wet and quiet day [Music] [Music] [Music] I wanted to s
tay longer to somehow Comfort them in their time of need but my heart started to feel heavy I departed head hung low back to my house the weather remained cold and wet for the rest of the day and Into the Night a day had passed and I wanted to go back to check on the [Music] house [Music] lo and behold all four hours where had the parent gone why had they not returned that day were they lost or injured they didn't look injured questions questions that i' had no answer to did it matter they were
all there safe and partially [Music] [Music] dry [Music] [Music] a w [Music] [Applause] [Music] w [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] oh spring was definitely in the air a kurong had recently nested nearby to the power LS and being a territorial bird started to attack the powerful out parent being as the powerful hours are very large and the kurong so small the kurong aners were barely felt by the [Music] hour it was more of a nuisance for the out who would then simply to anoth
er Branch nearby now I'm sure this ow could have attacked or shown its dominance but it didn't why I think because it simply just wasn't that much of a concern to it a lesson I thought not letting the small things get to you not allowing the everyday nuisances to affect your routine with spring comes all sorts of activities in the Parklands from the birth of gray-headed flying fox pups to the migration of bees and birth of baby swans I was filming the hours one day and noticed the sound of a swa
rm of bees close by quite close in fact as when I turned they were about 10 m away thousands of [Music] bees [Music] they all eventually landed on this Leaf now the size of a football huddled together they seem docile not aggressive in any [Music] way [Music] oh [Music] all of a sudden they decided to leave thousands of bees departing The Leaf all within about 30 seconds [Music] it was magical to see there were other beautiful sites to be had at the same time though the swans had given birth to
their chicks called signets and they were ever so [Music] cute [Music] the local gray-headed flying foxes were also parenting their newborn Young seeing their adorable little faces peeking out from the safety of mom's [Music] [Music] chest so much life so many new beginnings prevalent in the park if felt ecstatic so many stories so many new experiences but I could only be in one place at a time and was already heavily invested in the ow documentation they were after all my primary focus I was vi
siting the AL one day and noticed the family all sitting together often it's hard to see them clearly so I was in luck I noticed that one of the parents had a POS minutes claw holding on to it for consumption later that evening perhaps [Music] a little while went on and the owls had moved around a bit I was filming one of the parents that were intently looking at something lower in the tree I couldn't see what it was looking at but then realized this was the same ow that was previously holding o
n to the pum it seemed that while moving about the trees it lost its grip on the psum which was now a few meters lower hanging in a branch I noticed it and seeing that the ow was eyeing it off I reframed my camera to the p and not 2 seconds later reviewing the footage in slow motion really showed How Majestic and fast these sows are I hadn't actually seen any footage before of a powerful ow grabbing its prey so it was a big moment for [Music] me [Music] I was compelled to film the owls lat and l
ater into the night as they grew older they became much more active at night than they were before they were starting to obtain a level of Independence and having seen so much of their behavior my curiosity was increasing as to what they were actually doing later into the night but this posed a logistical and more human problem for me I had the limiting factor of how much light my camera and lens could pick up I'd thought about using an artificial light to film them but that really goes against
my ethos as a wildlife filmmaker so I managed to borrow a 400 MM G Master lens from Sony for a few weeks the added level of light that the lens could take in helped tremendously in allowing me to follow the hours deeper into the night still working around the full moon as much as [Music] possible [Music] [Music] is over the days and weeks filming I noticed how the outlets became better eaters as they learned from their parents and gained more experience the portions of food became larger and the
y were given the opportunity to take their own portions of [Music] food I was now filming deeper into the night more often the mystical nature of the forest ever growing enticing me to observe and film [Music] more [Music] it seemed that as my skill to spot the hours progressed so did their elusiveness I had to be an avid listener the hours were teaching me to look past the surface and to listen really listen to what was actually going on something Primal was being evoked in me in the night I wa
s thinking less as a person and more instinctively like an animal immersed in nature heightening all my senses becoming one with my intuition my [Music] instincts [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] one night I discovered one of the outlets eating something weird a small bird with lots of feathers it seemed odd definitely not something one of the parents would have caught and given to the allets as they were still mostly feeding them straight from the carcass I would assume t
hat this was one of the first times that an owlet had caught its own meal judging by the way it was handling the food as well as nearly dropping it it felt great to be able to see this accomplishment to be a part of its development even if from an observational level at one point the outet was handling its food and somehow fell from the tree it must not have been paying attention to its stability it managed to catch itself on the tree branch but unfortunately caught its wing in the process it wa
s now hanging from the tree by one One [Music] Wing I was concerned but film for about 3 minutes before getting onto the phone with wires to organize someone to come help free it when all of a sudden it decided it wanted to fly to another branch and away it flew claw holding on to its food and [Music] all it seemed my concerns for the ow perhaps was an overreaction but also how amazing that it could bring itself out of that sticky situation of course while the hour was hanging there stuck and I
was holding my breath The Sibling remained unconcerned simply curious about what the heck it was [Music] doing with the AL moving to other trees it gave me the opportunity to have different approaches to filming there are quite a few varieties of trees in Centennial Park and they all look quite different they have different thicknesses of trunks and branches different foilage and different Vantage points I found myself having to constantly think about different ways to shoot them it seemed that
with my expanding consciousness of these hours other areas of my brain were expanding too I was starting to look at all things differently to think about different perspectives on things before coming to any conclusions and this surprised me not the fact that I realized that but rather that there was a clear connection between my experience in nature filming these hours and my own personal [Music] life [Music] little eyes little all smile [Music] laugh and show me the way let all eyes let all [M
usic] smile laugh and show me left and show me the way you know you know it all you know it all no KN the [Music] way the siblings gained a stronger connection over time but as the weeks went on they became Inseparable little smile little fingers little nose one of my favorite moments filming the ow family was when they started to use their base in a different tree it actually took me about 5 days to find them there as there were very limited viewpoints to see [Music] them I found the parents an
d alet together it was interesting because even though I'd filmed and watched the hours for about 2 months I hadn't seen the parents showing affection to one another quite like this afid walk your path don't be afraid to walk your path your and the whole world is Ling now and the whole world is listening now and the whole world is listening now so heartwarming to see a loving family showing their affection for one another this was the last happy moment we would all have together one of the aller
s died the next day I'd gone back to check on them but one was gone it its body was never found but it just disappeared I couldn't keep an eye on the AL 24/7 but it must have happened in the middle of the night the speculation speculation is all we had but the only thing that was certain was that this once happy family of ours was now A family of three I couldn't continue I was I was heartbroken all the countless hours over the last 8 weeks watching the owlets grow and learn together their affec
tion for one another the way they ate together sat together trilled together gone their sibling Alliance no more I I just couldn't it was too much for me I had to take a few days break from filming the outs or do anything relating to the ows after a few days I went back to film the family to see how they were doing but they were gone nowhere to be found I kept trying to search for them but my gaps between visits were getting [Music] greater [Music] [Music] and so I believed my time filming the p
owerful out had come to an end not entirely by choice but because of nature the hours had been out of my sight to myself and many others for over a week now had they flown together to a new territory had they found a quieter place to teach their last young owl at the final stage of adolescence before being left to explore the world on its own truly heartbreaking having filmed them bonding together so wholesomely just over a week earlier I had to accept that closure doesn't always happen in the w
ay that we want it to Nature is nature and does what it does the circle of life doesn't always favor the characters of your choosing it's not about the one but the many I felt incredibly lucky and grateful to have been able to witness and film these powerful lows raising their young the past two months it was Beyond appreciation with only one Outlet remaining in the family I wonder how the parents feel Do They Mourn the potential loss of one of their own did they move on due to their grief and n
eeded a fresh start or was it just time to go for me filming these hours was not just about making a documentary on Australia's largest and possibly most majestic hour it was also a well needed task to keep my mental health in shape through the midst of the New South Wales lockdown moving house relationships ending and physical rehabilitation it was critical for me to have a project and tasks to set my mind to and I couldn't have asked for anything better the universe presented to me an opportun
ity at the right time with the right topic and the right location I just needed to see that and take the leap to have an awareness of my surroundings to understand that life begins outside of my comfort [Music] zone I had a booking for work overseas with my flight leaving that afternoon it wasn't until a local photographer shared a post showing a picture of the alic had to contact them and ask for help help to find the outlet it wasn't just for the documentary it wasn't to connect the story toge
ther in a hole it was for my own benefit I wanted to know I I wanted to see with my own eyes the greatness that this allet had accomplished and to find out the Outlet's whereabouts so close to my departure I had to go I had to make the most of my opportunity to find and film The alet before it grew into a full-blown adult and became unidentifiable amongst its parents it was nested deep inside a bird sanctuary a place that the public isn't granted access a sanctuary for the birds a place where th
e birds can rest at peace before departing in their own way and that is exactly what I felt the powerful ey was doing symbolically and literally after losing its sibling it not only needed to defend itself but it needed to rely on itself it was the Outlet's time for Independence whether that be by choice or the rules of nature the owlet was in the most difficult position to film I had to use all the experience and skills I had learned but I'd learned to look for the signs and use my instincts no
t just my [Music] mind I knew I I was so close to capturing it I kept looking and about an hour later I found [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] it [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] and here we are at the end of our story what a ride it's been for me the enticement the connection the learning and the adapting both on my part as a cinematographer and that of the outlets what will happen for the outlet will it find a mate will it continue in its life alone
will it stay near to the parents who knows as a wildlife filmmaker I need to know when to put an end to things when to say enough is enough when to say that the story to be told is told I think that it is a part of life and nature to let go to allow the unknown to be the unknown and cut we're [Music] done [Music] [Music] all the memories are the words all the stuff I never said the memories are the words all all the stuff I never me the memories all the all the words I never said all the memori
es memories memories [Music] memor one more memory one more memory give me one more memory memory [Music] [Music]
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