Short Eared Owl hunting near farmland

[KentYeti]

I'm broadening the range of photos of Short Eared Owls that I am taking.

Trying to include the habitat etc in some photos. i.e moving on from just taking close ups of this beatiuful bird.

But I'm just not sure about these two.

Until I started photgraphing birds last February I would have deleted this type of photo as so much is out of focus.

But now I'm not sure.

I want a photo that shows the Owl hunting the edge of farmed land with farming activity going on. And I now have some. I can think of no way I could have got the owl in focus and not blurred and the background farm sprayer in focus too! A non telephoto lens would of course have lost the Owl as it would have become so small.

So. Is the blurred farm machine acceptable? If so, does it convey the impression I want to give of an owl hunting the margins of well cultivated land.

If it is seen as OK, which one is the better of the two?

Or is it just a cr.p photo!





Cheers,

Bryan

[Dogghound]

I prefer the birds posture in the top photo. It is a good photo which would not be out of place in an agriculture and birds book.

[ChrelizG]

The top one is better because of the greater separation, to me. I'd also have cropped some of the lefthand side & a bit of the foreground off - but that's also subjective!

[Geoff F]

I would also crop quite a bit tighter.

The edges are so out of focus that they don't add anything, except distraction. you can crop tighter to the bird but still have enough indication of background to keep everything in context.

[KentYeti]

Thanks for the comments so far. The out of focus sprayer still bothers me a lot! But it may grow on me.

I've cropped a bit as suggested. But I've left enough of the bottom in the show that there is a dyke there.



Cheers,

Bryan

[pressld2]

I like 'em both Bryan, but agree with Dan that the top one is the best. The wings up posture is more dynamic than the "straight line" of the second photo.

I like the farm machinery being out of focus but still recogniseable. It puts the viewer's attention firmly on the bird but still provides context.

If what we're looking at is the whole frame then I would agree that you can afford to crop a bit from the bottom and the left hand side. If it's already cropped though, you might be pushing it too far, depending on usage.

Dave P.

EDIT: Yes, that crop is even better!

[RoyW]

I don't see any reason why the farm machinery needs to be more in focus, as it is it shows very well, that the bird is hunting the field margins of a field on a working farm.
The tighter crop is definitely the best.

[KentYeti]

Many thanks all.

I'll stick with the tighter crop, which still is along way from a hard crop. I can crop down to just the owl, but I have great deal of much closer shots like that already that hardly need any cropping.

Cheers,

Bryan

[dunlin]

It certainly gives the impression you wanted, of an owl hunting a well cultivated field.
The tighter crop looks better to me than the first two.

As a photograph it doesnt work for me. The farm machinery is to distracting, my eyes are drawn to the bright colours of the sprayer

[PMG]

For a magazine article (exhibition or display) along with close stunning shots in flight and perched it would be fine as it tells immediately by sight alone where some birds have their winter quarters. Personally I really like close shots of birds (and animals) in natural surroundings and nothing man-made to be seen if possible but thats just an aesthetic personal view about what I like

Pauline