DMill and Red-tailed Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
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May, 2014Views
1336
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Awards
Top Shot Award 22
People's Choice in Vintage Mills Photo Challenge
Legendary Award
Winner in Abandoned but Beautiful Photo Challenge
Peer Award
Absolute Masterpiece
Superb Composition
Top Choice
Magnificent Capture
Outstanding Creativity
All Star
Virtuoso
Superior Skill
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Impressed
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A_B_digital
May 18, 2018
This is a sensational shot, full of atmospheric mystery and magic. Brilliant!!
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Discover more photos See all
Behind The Lens
Location
This is a composite image. The old gristmill and red-tailed hawk were photographed (separately) one warm early winter day in Acushnet, MA.Time
It was just after sunrise in December. It was unusually warm and the frost evaporated into this beautiful fog.Lighting
The back-lit fog was amazing. It is unusual to have inland fog in December here in New England. I tried bracketing and took several different exposures. In the end however, just the one back lit silhouette worked best.Equipment
I shot the old mill with my trusty Coolpix p510. It has a nice wide angle feature and it was the best choice for the landscape part of the image. The Red-tailed Hawk was taken a few moments later using a Canon 70d with a 100mm/400mm f./4.5 lens.Inspiration
I woke early on this December morning thinking it was going to be a gloomy overcast day. However, as the sun started to rise I could see an exceptionally foggy atmosphere. I rushed out to one of my favorite spot, the old White's Mill. There I found the mill shrouded in a warm fog and I began snapping away. As I was photographing this wonderful scene, an immature Red-tailed Hawk happened by. As I always carry my 400mm with me, I shot the bird as well. I knew right then I had to try and combine these two images to create the image I saw in my mind.Editing
This image is a composite so I did a lot of post work. The hawk was layered over the landscape using a grain merge transparency. It then looked a bit too dark so I sandwiched a close up of the fog between them with the addition mode transparency. This further brought out the bird and set the landscape back to add depth. I then grabbed a warm grey layer to put on top of the whole image with a divide filter to warm up and soften the entire image. From there I just worked back and forth with gamma, brightness and contrast to achieve the desired effect.In my camera bag
I do a lot of birding and wildlife photography while I am out, so I always have my Canon 100mm/400mm f./4.5 strapped to me. Right now it is attached to a Canon 80D. I also bring out my 70D with a EFS 18mm/55mm along with a Coolpix p510. I almost always shoot in the available light, so I do not carry a flash and rarely a tripod.Feedback
Be prepared and know your gear! Be ready for anything, be it changes in light conditions, colors, white balance and knowing how to set yourself up for the post production process. Knowing what works for you can be the difference between seeing a cool raptor and capturing its photons. Photograph anything interesting, you never know when it will come in handy later on. Sometimes I will snap cloud formation or an object (i.e. lighthouse, bridge, a tree) knowing that I may use it to create composite images. I also like to keep folder on my hard drive sorted by subject so as to easily find what I need. And most of all, just go for it.
