Bird Photo Competition 5 2017 : Entry Number 146

Judges Comment

A clear winner this time is this combination of a predation action shot with a rustic 'still life' setting. When we see images like this one nowadays, we often wonder to what extent they were 'captured' or 'made'. Was the table set up outdoors or in a barn and the whole scene simply 'snapped' after days of patient waiting? Was the mouse deliberately used as bait to increase the odds? Was the mouse actually not endangered because the owl was 'Photoshopped' in afterwards? Did any of this actually 'happen' or was it all just 'created'? By looking at the end result, it's impossible to tell. Increasingly, many would argue that it doesn't matter if the finished result has sufficient merit, i.e. evokes the right response from the viewer. In any case, I'd say this image is the result of a huge amount of work by the photographer and stands out from the vast body of well-worn imagery with which we've become all too familiar.

Photographers Comment

Mario Cea: Thank you very much for this new award in your fantastic contest. The image is the result of a lot of field work because the Barn owl is completely wild. He also has a lot of photographic work, especially of illumination of the scene. The entire stage was set inside an abandoned barn where a scene that had been in the head for a long time was recreated ..... "a person had dined and the crumbs he left behind will be the dinner of a mouse that will be the dinner of the barn owl " There is no photoshop in any part of the image and the mouse is dead and placed in a natural positionand it was bought in a store specializing in pet food (frozen food for reptiles). To achieve this image almost two years of work were necessary. Thank you so much again.
www.mariocea.net