{"id":43181,"date":"2016-10-31T07:10:34","date_gmt":"2016-10-31T13:10:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=43181"},"modified":"2016-10-31T07:24:10","modified_gmt":"2016-10-31T13:24:10","slug":"a-red-tailed-hawk-at-takeoff-and-my-growing-appreciation-for-old-stuff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2016\/10\/31\/a-red-tailed-hawk-at-takeoff-and-my-growing-appreciation-for-old-stuff\/","title":{"rendered":"A Red-tailed Hawk At Takeoff And My Growing Appreciation For “Old Stuff”"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are many items of interest in this photo besides just the hawk and in this case I find them interesting and appealing.<\/p>\n

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\"red-tailed-hawk-3469-ron-dudley\"1\/3200, f\/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

I created the image about six weeks ago as this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk took off from a very old power pole near Montana’s border with Idaho. I think the birds takeoff posture is pretty spectacular and I love the background.\u00a0Previously I’d have thought the\u00a0clutter of unnatural wires, insulators and wood was distracting and aesthetically lacking but with these ancient poles and their accoutrements my view is evolving. For my tastes they add interest to the image instead of distracting from the bird.<\/p>\n

After my eye has enjoyed the hawk it wanders over the rest of the image. The first thing I notice is how crowded it is on that wooden beam – there’s barely enough room for the bird to perch there. In fact its front toes are actually beneath the insulator closest to us and some of the feathers of its “britches” enshroud the top of the insulator as the hawk leans into its takeoff. I can’t help but wonder why the bird didn’t land on the pole instead of the crowded beam.<\/p>\n

But what I enjoy most about the pole and its hardware\u00a0are their obvious\u00a0age. The wood is extremely weather-beaten (this area has some of the harshest winter weather in the entire nation), several of those antique insulators are missing, one of the three bare mounting bolts is missing its mounting wedge and the horizontal beam\u00a0has actually split on\u00a0one end from decades of pressure and weakness caused by the mounting bolts.<\/p>\n

Some element-rich\u00a0images like this one draw me in because there’s so much there to entertain me. And I’m finding that the older I get the more I appreciate the longevity and character of “old stuff”.<\/p>\n

Hmmm, at the ripe old\u00a0age of 69 I wonder why…<\/p>\n

Ron<\/p>\n

Notes:<\/em><\/p>\n