The Raven

To follow Daniel in his statement, I think it's too perfect to be a photograph, IMO it's a composite, and it should be stated if that's the case.

 

Although I'm not against composites in general, there are many of them; in this particular case and just for ME, not beeing a one-shot photograph (even heavily photoshoped), have no value at all as one.

 

Sorry, no ofense, just my personal opinion.

I have two opinions depending on how this image was made. In either case, it has striking composition and contrast.

 

If it is a straight shot from a camera then I think it is quite good.

 

If it is a composite, then, while it is a nice composition, I find such creations less intriguing as a photographer. It is also not clear what the image is conveying, is there a story here? Some relationship between the bird and the cyclist? The bird and its world?

 

I tend to think it is a composite for the following reasons:

 

- The foreground bird and background bicycle are both in focus, which is difficult with a single shot.

 

- To get such DOF would require a small aperture. The ambient light is twilight and so is dim, therefore a long exposure would have been needed, and the bicycle world be blurred.

 

- The bird is in silhouette, but the bicycle and rider are illuminated. The light would be dim and diffuse, so this is not caused by direct natural light on the bicycle and shadow on the bird.

 

- The bird is either directly on the ground, meaning the camera was very low, or it is on a pole/branch/stand, but the bicycle is on a flat road-like surface and the transition area seems odd.

 

The lighting could have been accomplished with a remote flash, but then how do you get the bird to pose? Food? Trained bird?

 

How was this picture made? Is it a straight shot right out of the camera? With a bit of processing to enhance shadows and colors? Is it posed or found? Is it a composite made from several images?

 

One more question: is this a raven or a crow? It's hard for me (being a non-expert) to tell from this photo, but the beak looks more crow-like; it also depends where in the world the picture was taken to figure out just which species this is.