Barn Owl flying out of the Green Smokey Woods

The Barn Owls were flying quite late into the morning in search of food for their hungry chicks at one of my local Nature Reserves. However, on this occasion I‘d waited for hours with no sign of any activity when silently this Barn Owl took flight from the woods sharply contrasting with the dark background. Knowing that it was likely to be over-exposed I quickly dialled in some negative exposure compensation on my camera settings. As a consequence the darkest shadows in the background turned completely black and where light was catching the leaves it transformed them into dark green clouds of smoke which I think gives the image a mysterious and other-worldly appearance.