Barn Owl Hunting

[adrian dancy]

The Barn Owl shown here is hunting over farm/grassland/marsh. The sunlight is between side and backlighting and creating a soft atmosphere with mist and particulates which made a beautiful sight to watch but a little more difficult to replicate in a small image. I have therefore upped the contrast.
The image is full frame but the bird in the original image was in the centre of the frame. I have therefore moved it to the left to improve composition which I appreciate is still not perfect. I also appreciate that many will not like the wing position... but birds glide and I'm happy to capture that.

Canon 50D, Sigma 300f2.8, 1.4X tele-converter hand held

ISO 800, f7.1, 1250 sec.

Cloned bird, minimal contrast applied, slight sharpened radius applied.

[Randy Stout]

Adrian:

One way to measure the success of an image is: how long does the viewer look at it. Yours scores well on that scale. I spent a few moments perusing it, enjoying not only the bird, but the composition, the subtle leading line from the path to the gate in the background, the balance of masses in the frame.

Yes, not the most dynamic wing position, but in this context of him soaring over the grasses, it is effective. Nice job moving the bird, the only spot that looks a bit unexpected is right under the belly, but subtle.

All in all, a pleasing birdscape.

Cheers

Randy

[Geoff Newhouse]

I second most of everything Randy mentioned. I also was drawn into the image and the environment and I liked the inclusion of the man-made element of the fence that really tells me where this was. Great image that strays away from the typical tight on the bird shot. I like it a lot.

TFS
Geoff

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Adrian, love the small in the frame here, together with the surrounding enviroment. Im fine with the gliding pose, and well done on moving the Owl to suit the comp - great pp work too. Thanks for disclosing the fact. :w3

[dankearl]

I would crop the top off to below the white sky for a pano look.
Thanks for disclosing although for me, moving the bird digitally in the frame should
put this in the OOTB forum.

[William Dickson]

Lovely frame Adrian. A very nice 'english country look' about it. Lovely bird on a lovely BG Well done

Will

[keith mitchell]

This is the way I often see Barn Owls, think you have captured the Owl and it's environment perfectly, right up my street Adrian,top work.

Keith.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Dear Adrian,

I love owls, and this frame caught my eyes as I was browsing through the latest images - I think you did great, capturing this cutie in flight! Nice inclusion of environment too.

Although I did like the image as presented I took the liberty to play around a bit, my version is a bit tighter in terms of crop and I darkened the surroundings a little for a more "eerie" look - WDYT?

Will look out for your future images, thank you so much for sharing and for information regarding PP work:)

Kind regards,

[adrian dancy]

Hi Gabriela, and many thanks for taking the time to comment. There is nothing wrong with your cropped version. However, I will attempt to explain my version. I already have images with the bird slightly larger in the frame and with more natural contrast using less of a crop. I also had immediate access to a 500mm lens with camera attached for closer shots but that was not what I wanted to achieve. As mentioned in the description above, the scene was essentially back/side lit revealing a slightly glary mist. I thought the scene provided an opportunity for an idyllic, quaint, pastoral scene and it is that which I wished to capture. As such the inclusion of the gate is essential. In fact I think the gate makes it. I also believe the inclusion of the sky subliminally explains the otherwise low contrast scene.

Hi Dan and thanks, I have complied with the rules which inter alia state "... If you have significantly altered your image by adding or removing elements of the composition, we ask that you let folks know that as well." Respectfully I see no difference here to wholesale beach clean ups, adding canvas, adding wing tips or tails, eye doctoring and digital silhouettes all of which is frequently carried out in the avian forum. I do however agree with what I presume to be your ethic, and for that reason, I have never submitted this image for sale or magazine publication.

[adrian dancy]

Randy thanks for your comments. I thought about the spot under the belly. Unfortunately the spot to which I think you refer is in the original. My selection with the clone tool by necessity included a small amount of proximate habitat.

[Satish Ranadive]

Excellent birdscape with beautiful habitat.
I like the composition in both versions.

Regards,
Satish.

[John Robinson]

Adrian
First post is to me portrays a perfect English scene. Seen one like it a hundred times. I reckon maybe OK with the Owl in original position. Trouble is people start to think you do it all the time. I learnt my lesson !!
Cheers
John

[Diane Miller]

Excellent atmosphere here! I love your concept in the OP. Completely "in the box" to me. No small trick catching this guy so sharp inflight!