On the verge

Barn owl hunting a roadside verge.
I got 3 shots of this bird hunting with the vehicle in the BG, they were all shot landscape and cut off just above the vehicle, this one being the best pose of the owl.
Upon reviewing the images I liked the way the Landrovers headlights implied the time of day but I felt that the BG would look nice if it included the OOF house and tree in its entirity, and would convey the story of how these birds risk their lives when they live on the edge of urban areas with busy roads.
Checking the image to ascertain the plane of focus the bird was in I then manually focused at that point and shot the fuller BG as a separate OOF frame, to be stitched together later.
The other shots are on my Flickr gallery.

2009:02:20 15:50:02
Canon EOS 1Ds MkIII 600mm + 1.4X (840mm)
Subject dist: 69m
1/500 sec, f/5.6
Mode: Av
Metering: Evaluative
ISO: 400
AF mode: AI Servo AF
Drive: Continuous (high)
White balance: Auto
Flash: Off
File size: 21.5MB
Image size: 5616 x 3744
Color space: AdobeRGB
Saturation: Normal
Sharpness: 0
Contrast: 0
Tone: Normal
Custom Functions:
CFn III-8: AF expansion: surrounding assist points
CFn III-13: AF point brightness: brighter

RAW conversion DPP all other PP (and manual stitch) CS3

Lovely image! I really really do like this type of intelligent and thought-provoking work that conveys a story, as well as a subject. NO caveats, this is an excellent image, even if a wee bit manipulated :-)

The relationship of house/tree to lights to owl is spot-on and the lighting just superb. Well done Nigel.

Very nice, the composition between owl, house and car is excellent and really tells a story. The post processing is excellent too!

I like the oof house + tree in the bg but not the vehicle. A superb capture Nigel.

I like the thinking behind the shot, but for me the lighting on the foreground re the background, just don’t quite marry up.

Nice shot, well thought out and taken.

Hi Nigel,
I think this works very well indeed and puts across your intended story superbly.
I like the triangular composition of the three main elements too.

I like this shot very much.
It tells a story of how close nature life and human life often are.
I think this happens more often we are aware of.
Makes me look at it longer than usual.
Bertl

I think this works very well. Different to the norm. Very well taken Nigel.

Matt

Great shot, Nigel. Well thought out and a fine stitch. No problem with this technique at all. It's how many of us do panoramic images anyway so I don't feel this is manipulation as oppose to shooting the barn owl in an entirely different location and adding to a scene. Nice one! Mark

Excellent work Nigel and good skills in the processing... I do worry for the Owls in this area, some of the speeds people drive at are ludicrous...

Tony

Works for me. It says what you want it to say and you can't ask for more than that from a journalistic PoV.
Eric

Excellent, the stitch is good and I think justified here.... certainly tells the story.

A great shot Nigel. I really ilke what you are trying to convey and the shot tells it as it stands. The headlights are perfect