"Against the Wind"

[paul leverington]

Trying for the obvious "repeating parallel lines" comp because power of subject can be augmented through--- you guessed it-- repetition of line or suggested line. I do wish his right wing were a bit more forward, and somewhere in the archives I probably have a shot like that, I'll get around to finding that someday.....someday.....someday................... . .. . . fade . . .

Anyways-- the plants are pretty interesting, no? I have no idea what they are, but the second I saw them a flood of ideas sprung forth upon my wandering brain. From what I can tell, those seed pods split open in the spring and let forth a cascade of these very tiny teency seeds. I saved a bunch and am hoping to grow my own photoprops next year. For now I call them "Hawk-berries"

Plants were spaced going off into the distance maybe 30 feet to 35 feet.

One thing becomes self evident when you watch enough redtail hawk action after awhile--they love to fly! They really, really, love flying. And how they can fly straight through a heavily wooded area and not hit anything is completely amazing.

Paul

I'm sorry but I can't find the original tiff so I don't have the data real handy other than it was a 600/4 and I think the MarkIII.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

I do like the idea very much Paul and your dedication to the final execution. I only wish the head were not as dark. Awesome work, yet again! :)

[Hilary Hann]

Lovely imagery, agree about the "hawk-berries", very photogenic. When you find the image with the right wing forward you might find the one with the feet extended! :D

[Harshad Barve]

lovely image with awesome compo for me
Killer BG
TFS

[arash_hazeghi]

Beautiful ambiance, it is nice to see raptors in a different environment. self-critique about wing position is spot on. Thanks for sharing

[David Fletcher]

Nice one Paul. Like the comp, arrangement and information provided too. Go with own critique but does have a good feel. Nicely done.

[Nicki Gwynn Jones]

Hi Paul,
For me, the BG absolutely makes this image...I just love the soft yet graphic quality that it has. And the colours complement those of the bird so beautifully.
Best,
Nicki

[Brian Barcelos]

Paul, unbelievable control you have over your subject matter. Love the hawk berries, BG and the snow really gives you goose bumps. Agree about the wing but either way it's still a very powerful image. Congrats

P.S. Haven't seen "Tombstone" in a couple of days, but it's been raining a bit anyways.

[paul leverington]

Paul, unbelievable control you have over your subject matter. Love the hawk berries, BG and the snow really gives you goose bumps. Agree about the wing but either way it's still a very powerful image. Congrats

P.S. Haven't seen "Tombstone" in a couple of days, but it's been raining a bit anyways.

We gotta come up with a name for your buddy Brian. Something like Doc holiday or Wyatt Earp or something like that. :) Course if it's a female maybe "Miss Kitty" would be more appropriate. The female when these guys are fully grown are about 30% bigger than the males--have you figured the sex of yours yet?

Whats wrong with shooting in the rain? I get my best pictures in "bad" weather. If your worried about equipment protection I have the solutions and all concerns for under thirty dollars total. The rain becomes another comp element for which you to conjer up a vision. Work with the opportunity my man! Let me know if you need a way to protect your gear from the elements.

Your so right about subject control. Without some degree of reliability and repor, shots of anything are hit and miss to a larger degree. It took years and lots of time. But the results allow one to focus on the vision and comp once that is established.

Paul

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hi Paul,
Love the mood and rain just adds another level. For my tastes a better wing position would have been preferable. The BG and work you have done are truly inspiring!

[Mital Patel]

It is really very easy to say for better head angle and some more light and yellow and blue and orange.

i would say this is what i may have dream of and you have got it.
for me the prize/success for any shot is other wildlifer should jealous on that image to have such frame in their kitty .. :)

by all mean i am jealous with this frame.

cheers and keep it up.
waiting for more shots frome the sequence.

BTW dear fella's no offence and my pointing on first line towards non of the members of BPN. its just a statement so dont take it over the head.

[Brian Barcelos]

Paul, no idea on the sex of mine. In the early spring I'd occasionally see two together at the same location but now I only see one but I'm not even sure if they are both still there and I only see one at a time? If I do figure it out I'll come up with a name. Bye the way what did you name yours?

Yes I'm very scarred of getting my equipment wet as my lens I'm sure is very far from being capable of taking any water (Tamron 200-500mm) and I'd love your sollution for protection from the elements.

Hope it's o.k. that I posted this here.

[paul leverington]

Brian--take a rainsuit of the 20-30 dollar variety and slice it up, using either the arm or leg sections as covers for your lens and body. Of course you can buy such covers, some at a premium, but most times there is not enough material where you can place your head under cover also as you look through the viewfinder. You find these rain suits on sale for as little as ten dollars sometimes or you can get some very heavy duty ones for forty or fifty. I buy the camo ones. The thing is you have enough arms and legs to make four rain covers for four different size lenses.

You then need to extend your lens hood another foot or so so rain at an angle won't find its way in, and splashing drops hitting the inside surfaces of your hood don't spatter your lens elements. Take aluminum flashing, the thicker kind roofers use is what I use, and fashion a conical shaped shroud to extend the lens hood. The cone angle you'll have to work out so as to prevent vignetting, but you can duct tape it together or better use some rivets. Paint the inside with the flatest black you can find. Make it tight on the small end so it doesnt move around on your lens hood during shooting, and wrap duct tape around the circumference to additionally hold it in place to your hood. You certainly might be able to come up with a different material, but it should be light yet strong whatever you use.

I routinely shoot in torrential downpours with this rig. Looking up in the sky however is still somthing that won't work out to well even with all the precautions I have mentioned, so you stuck there. The big thing is to be able to be under cover with my camera because the extra material covers us both.

Paul

[Mike Tracy]

You are really good at setting and capturing the mood you wish to convey. It's a stretch to find any items worth improving. The colors and light on the bird are perfect to me and contrast nicely with the winterly feel of the background.

As mentioned a different wing position would be interesting to view but I doubt the hawk would have the same vertical attitude. If you had placed your stew meat (assuming here) to the hawks right a couple of degrees it would have produced a more intimate head angle. The one white spot above his right wing keeps catching my eye as does to a lesser extent the one URC.

Maybe the title is a misnomer as I would expect the cool looking hawk berries to appear to be swaying more ;).

[paul leverington]

Your right Mike --it was dead calm. Yeah the vertical was my major goal. Very good point about the placing of his dinner. I never seem to get the abbreviations--whats URC again? The spot above his wing could get some toning down I agree.

[Mike Tracy]

I never seem to get the abbreviations--whats URC again?

I get confused myself. Upper right corner.

http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...ad.php?t=12682

[Arthur Morris]

Well, I will be the odd man out here. Aside from the feet hanging down, this one does zip for me. The wing position--one that I have never and will never like, especially with the almost side view--minimizes the subect. And with the bird's head pretty much in the dark, I would not rate this as "awesome." Lastly, I am not a fan of the multiple horizontal elements in a horiztonal composition.

With respect to all above.

[paul leverington]

Good point about the horizontal format Arthur--one I hadn't thought about enough. With all the vertical stuff going on I'm thinking that would be a better crop--one to explore for sure. In your last sentence, you did mean "VERTICAL elements in a horizontal compositon", right? Just visualising it as a vertical seems better even. Yeah the wings are not powerful here, especially with the right wing showing no wing tip feather detail like the left wing does, but I was hoping to get other elements to carry the weight of the comp--such as his unusual body position and dangling feet, plants, far bg.. Dark head can easily be lightened some but the big thing here is format to the vertical--hence a tighter crop in.

Well thanks for the honest critique--it opened my eyes to some new thinking on this one Artie.


Paul

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Paul. Yes, I meant vertical elements.... I much prefer them in VERT COMPs. I should have added that the other posts of this bird are pretty much fantastic.

[Arthur Morris]

On a second look, the bird's head is turned away; that is why it is so dark. Even if lightened the head angle will be problematic at best.

[paul leverington]

Hmmm.. I'm thinking the head angle to us is actually parallel--and is probably so due to how i had made the setup and his stare was fixed on a known location--dinner--and that was on a tangent to my position--but--I'm thinking that the body angle itself being turned our way "suggests" his head turned away from us. Either way something else for me to consider. I think later tonight I'll pull up the tiff, if I can find it,and take a good look at what your seeing Artie. Do you think his turned body position has anything to do with what you are seeing at all Art, or do you really see his head on an angle turned away from us? Were all down at the duck pond shooting the wood ducks today--Did you get any good ones when you were here?

Paul

[Arthur Morris]

As I have stated many times, perhaps in the HA Police thread, when the bird is angled towards us the bird's head needs to be on straight. If it is parallel to us in that situation it is actually turned away from the viewer. So yes, body position is everything. For over the shoulder images for example, the very best HA is perfectly parallel.... And there are rare times when the bird looking slightly away is best.

And yes, I got some great stuff on my visit to Chagrin (see image above). How is the color now?

ps: Thanks for having an open mind to my suggestions :)

[Arthur Morris]

Here's my tip for Chagrin: standing up can be more effective than lying down....

[paul leverington]

Ooooo--la-la those colors are sweet! The trees are lookin pretty good right now but to be honest I have not seen a fall foliage that was perfect there since 2000 or so. They should be at peak this week and weekend, but are good right now. In 2000 you could just about shoot anywhere and pick up color in the water---and bright. All the leaves were lush and on the branch. Hopefully we'll see another one of those again soon and hopefully I'll have a camera with a better autofocus and more MP than my Mark III I have now. Today I'm trying for some "straight at me landing shots in the color with a splash" type shots. We have a Plan.....But i'll be down on the deck for these and I know where your coming from about standing up for shooting them in the water.

All good stuff you brought up Artie--certainly helps make me better at what I love to do.

Paul

[Arthur Morris]

Have fun and remember no feeding the ducks at Chagrin!

[paul leverington]

Hee-hee.....