Gift Shop Changes:

• Our DVD selection will remain as is.
• The Poster Prints will remain with some changes coming in April.
• The Note Cards will be removed on March 18, 2011. Hurry in and order before they’re gone.

Check out our DVD Video page to watch the trailers and place your order.

We are so excited about our very first ad which was created totally “in house” by the Unique Views of Nature team.

The hardest part was selecting what images to showcase; we have so many to choose from now.

The first step was using Animation in Photoshop CS4 to create the first part where the black and white photos turn into color. Then we used Motion (bundled with Final Cut Pro, the program we use to edit video) to have our name scroll behind the color line. We had a bit of a challenge to get the timing right between the two, but we did it. Final Cut was used to add the cool transitions.

The funnest part was learning how to create our very own music using Garageband. We spent a couple of late nights laughing until our sides hurt trying to figure it all out. Things really got crazy when we hauled out the microphone and added the helium effect to our voices. Thankfully, that was deleted when the sun started to rise and we regained our senses.

We are so appreciative of YouTube and all of the awesome tutorials available. They really helped us out.

We are now working on our next creative endeavor. It includes some really cute little critters doing cute critter stuff. And of course, a musical masterpiece from Garageband.

We also were busy revamping our website to make it easier to navigate. And, we built a gift shop to showcase our products!

Visit our Gift Shop for a collection of poster prints available for purchase. Choose from either 16×20 or 20×30. The poster selection will continue to grow.

We also have four videos for purchase. Three are nature themed.

The Birds of Prey-Raptor Free Flight features the birds of prey of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.

The Hummingbirds-Joy of Motherhood follows three different female hummingbirds through the different phases of motherhood.

The Magic of Butterflies features tropical butterflies set to soothing music for a visual and auditory delight.

Lastly, we have a video created for our favorite non-profit, Equine Voices Rescue and Sanctuary. See how and why the sanctuary was founded. Meet some of the volunteers, adopted horses and their guardians. All proceeds from the sale of this video go to the Sanctuary.

Here is an awesome shot of an Eastern Collared Lizard. The lighting was perfect to capture the beautiful blue coloring. As we come across other interesting and unique photos and videos, we will post them. The best ones will be posters for sale. This guy is available as a poster in the Gift Shop!

Eastern Collared Lizard

Wild Turkey

Since Thanksgiving is coming up, I thought it was appropriate to include a gratuitous image of a wild turkey. This was taken at one of our favorite places to hang out at, Arizona Sonora Desert Museum. The feathers were absolutely beautiful, especially when the light was just right. It was surprising to me how blunt the feather edges were, they almost looked like roof shingles.

Just for fun–delight in watching some fun and fantastic animals as they enjoy their Thanksgiving meals. Or as they try to. This 1 1/2 minute video includes a Cactus Wren trying to break up a piece of kibble to a Great Horned Owl downing his favorite food, a mouse. The ocelot is enjoying a frozen tuna-cicle–it is still warm here in Tucson Arizona for Thanksgiving. We even have the turkey on the video and our favorite, the Costa’s hummingbird. For more hummers, check out our hummingbird video on the Video page in the Gift Shop!

Screech Owl with Friend (look at upper left side)

This short video has awesome slow motion of the Barn Owl and Great Horned Owl. Our DVD, Birds of Prey, has more footage and information about these two fantastic owls, in addition to other raptors and birds of prey. It also has more slow motion of the Chihuahuan Raven, Ferruginous Hawk and Harris’ Hawk. You can see a short trailer for this DVD on the Video page at the Gift Shop.

Hope you enjoy the owls! We’re rounding up images and video to celebrate Thanksgiving. Come back and visit us the second week in November! We also look forward to your comments. You can use the contact page to send a comment.