Burrow Hill and the field in the foreground were captured on the same evening, but at short distance apart. I wanted crops in the foreground field, which Burrow Hill didn’t have, so I found a nearby field and, after carefully matching lighting angles and camera height, had 70% of the images I needed in the bag.

In a previous image in the project, titled The Last Harvest, I’d captured an owl called Breeze, and decided I’d like another bird as the focal point here. I was originally thinking of a buzzard, but after a chat with local bird of prey expert Sharandy’s Birds of Prey, she mentioned a tawny owl called Bracken, who sounded perfect.

On the day, all started well — the weather was kind and Bracken was the perfect model — then an issue became apparent. The single clip light, meant to replicate the sun, wasn’t firing despite having power. On top of that, the shaded area I needed to be shooting in was disappearing, meaning I’d need to move quickly or unsettle my very patient model.

I decided to keep shooting, knowing I could fake the rim light in post-production to help blend Bracken into the scene. It’s a great example of a conversation I often have — that Photoshop is an amazing tool, and mastering it doesn’t just open creative possibilities, it also helps solve problems when things don’t go as planned.