barn owl and moon

[Dejan Stojanovic]

Hi all,
a few nights ago i went spotlighting and found this barn owl. unfortunately it wasnt a full moon, but i still like the effect. Eos 5D, f5.6, ISO 100, 1/60 sec, 400mm and flash.
I'm unsure about the branch in the bottom right.
Comments welcome!
D

[Ramon M. Casares]

I would´ve removed the extra branch, and also, I would´ve probably raised the color temperature a bit and removed one of the catchlight from the eye in our right. Still, very nice shot with great atitude, composition and detail. Congratulaitons!

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

Good suggestions from Ramon. I really like the front on pose you captured here and the crop you chose. Thanks for sharing.

[Art Kornienko]

Great effect, I agree with Ramon about the catchlight and I too would have removed the lower branch, but that is a very personal thing, I'm sure many would like to leave it in. Not sure about the shape or look of the moon though, something very unnatural about the way it looks.

[Doug Brown]

The image has a Halloween feel to it. I would probably remove the lower branch and also the OOF branch running from the LLC to the moon. I agree that the moon looks kind of strange. The other thing I would fix is the blue color cast.

[Edward Fisher]

A nice front on pose.
I agree with the suggestions from Raymon. I would also suggest you get rid of the moon as I see it more of a distracting element, rather than complimenting the subject.(looks more like a coal lamp than the moon).
Then try a portrait crop.

[Glenn Bartley]

So cool. Great idea and well executed.

[Ramon M. Casares]

Dejan, if you don´t mind, here´s a repost I did, I have sharpened the whole image a bit, I have also ad Saturation, color temperature, removed the lower branch and I have blured the moon to avoid the strange look of it. Hope you don´t mind.

[Dejan Stojanovic]

Hi all,
thanks for the great comments!
Ramon i really like what you did there! i sharpened the image and increased saturation when i was playing with it, but it is greatly improved in your repost. the colour temp really did the trick i think. also, removing that branch and blurring the moon really adds to the image.
i have another shot where the owl fills the frame as a portrait which i will post later. see what you think of it as an alternative.
thanks very much for the feedback!

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

THis is a very cool image Dejan. I even like the moon, despite it looking a bit like an out of focus streetlamp. Great effort and evidence why I want to do more spotlighting in my neck of the woods. Well done mate.

[Dejan Stojanovic]

thank you sir!