Looking for Lunch

[Bud Cline]

I have been busy walking the towpath of the C&O Canal National Historical Park documenting the damage done by the recent blizzards. let's just say there is lots of downed tree clearing work for a great number of volunteers and Park staff for the next couple of months.

This is a scene at Violette's Lock at mile 22 on the towpath - the hawk was watching along the Canal for a meal but nothing materialized during the brief time I stopped to watch.

The image was processed as usual in PS CS4 and then subjected to Topaz Detail 2 - Abstraction filter.

[Christopher Miller]

Hi Bud, Nice feel to this. I like the watercolor look of the effect. I wish the hawk stood out a bit more though. Maybe lightening the BG behind the hawk and removing the branch just above it's head would help.

[denise ippolito]

Bud, I like the stained glass look. I agree w/ Christopher and wish that the Hawk stood out a bit more from the BG or was a bit larger in the frame. I think the base of the tree above it's head is competing for my eye. Looks like the buzz filter in Simplify. Nice work.:)

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Like your filter Bud, and find the dark tree base competing for attention too. Nice abstract feel to the image:)

[Bud Cline]

Thanks to all for your comments and suggestions.

[Patti Edens]

I like this view a lot! I do agree with the comments that it would have been nice to see the hawk larger and a bit more separated from BG, but I also like to see critters in their environment - branches, twigs and all. I think your treatment has softened all the extras and the hawk is a very nice silhouette against the bright snow.

It would have been awesome to be able to watch him longer and maybe see him grab a meal.

[Bud Cline]

Thanks for your thoughtful comments, Patti. This was a grab shot with a 3X zoom point and shoot that I was carrying to document the storm damage on the towpath. I approached as close as I dared -I did not to spook the hawk away from its perch - the wildlife in the Park is having a hard enough time this winter without having to relocate to hunt.

For the same reason, I did not stay in the area but rather walked upstream away from the hawk. I would have liked to watch to see if it was successful in its hunt but I was "on duty" as it were - documenting all the downed trees to assist the maintenance staff in their planning for cleanup after our recent blizzards.

Regarding the comments from others about this creation, it is a no more than 20% of the very busy image that resulted from taking this shot some distance from the hawk. I too would have liked the hawk to be more isolated from the surrounding branches, wished the sun was at my back instead of shining straight at me, wished that dark tree in the background was not where it was but none of those things was the case in this situation. As might be inferred from my comments, I was not out on a raptor shoot with my usual bird photography gear.

When preparing this creation for posting, I even tried isolating the hawk via cloning out the distracting limbs and this resulted in a very unnatural looking creation. I also considered selecting the hawk and enlarging it for replacement back into the creation but again rejected that as being too "manipulative" of the scene I wanted to report.

Perhaps this type of creation when offered along with its story does not belong in this forum - it may be more suitable for a photoblog rather than a critique forum - I will take that possibility into consideration before posting here again.