Owl and Habitat

[John Robinson]

Little Owl
This rain is making it hard for a lot of birds with young. I reckon my Owls have about hatched so I decided to leave them till things pick up The forcast is not good. I;ve been putting some mealworms out to help a bit.
So this is one from last year. . Lots won;t like the square crop.
.I know a lot are not keen on square crops. Have a look at the larger one. Taken about 8 o'clock in the evening.
Sigma 100-300mm
D7000
Crop from horizontal
800 ISO
320th @f8
Levels.
Cheers
JohnR
Thanks for comments on previous image.

[Binu John]

Great shot, John! Excellent pose and eye contact! TFS

[John Robinson]

Thanks Binu
I,ve just noticed the dark object at the top which I forgot to mention. Its a bit of guttering and a down pipe. Couldn't decide if it was too eye grabbing or not.
Cheers
John

[Ian Wilson]

I think the square crop is OK but I would be inclined to try a crop with the top edge lower, just cutting off the top of the down-pipe. I like the background, especially that little piece of sky. Rustic perch suits the bird very well. Beautiful work as usual. Cheers, Ian

[John Robinson]

Here's a repost Ian I still kept it a bit dark to try and convey the evening.
WDYT
Cheers
John

[Ian Wilson]

Yep, I think the repost has done the trick - certainly for my taste. I think you have captured the early evening 'feel' very well. Cheers, Ian

[gail bisson]

repost works for me!
It is interesting how owls' perched on man made rustic posts always seem to work.
I would clone out the orange bit of drain pipe out or crop it out and add a bit on the bottom to put the owl in the top left corner (rule of thirds)
IQ of the owl is excellent,
Gail

[John Robinson]

Thanks gail
here's one for you . We could go on all night!
By the way gail- the post has been kicking around in the yard for years !
Nice to have it handy- I,m thinking of leasing it out £20 per hour !!
Cheers
John

[Joe Galkowski]

The repost works for me. Speaking of posts, I love the detail and texture of the aged wood and rusting wire.

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Love the mean look he's giving you here and the over all setting here. I like the weathered post with the rusty wire (looks familiar). I especially love the depth to the bg and how much dimension the blue adds to this image. Lovely!

[christopher galeski]

Nice one John,1/3rd post is the one for me,good eye contact,nice IQ,love the old perch.well done.

[David Salem]

Nice one. I actually am not afraid of square crops and use them allot when the shot warrants it. In this case I actually like the last repost best though. Nice detail and I like the rustic perch.
If this were shot with a 500 or 600 the BG would be killer ;) Just Messing with you. Well done.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi John, great eye contact, and nicely separated from the BG. Good DOF on the owl and perch, and I quite like the weathered fence post. Comp wise, Im not too keen on square crops, so taking off the top, adding a bit to the left to move the owl a bit more into the frame would work for me.

[John Robinson]

Thanks
Stuart- I'll try it -got to be careful though - there'll be no posting space left !!
I,ve had to do a bit of stretching etc but can;t do much more inless I loose the wire. Decided to leave the bit of sky in !! Could always try a vertical !!!
Cheers
John

[Stu Bowie]

Hey John, I really like your latest repost version - works for me and just what I had in mind.

[Sidharth Kodikal]

fwiw, something between the first (OP) and the second would do it for me. The blue sky and the depth in the bg is too valuable to crop away imho

[John Robinson]

Thanks Sidarth
Just shows how many different takes there can be on one shot !
Cheers
John

[robinlee]

John, I think your initial post and the former both really good image ... but as per thread title, first image works better for me as we all know little owl habitat being near to the farmland despite the downpipe and rust colour in the background.