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Passage of Time


Passage of Time
Photo Information
Copyright: Francine Malo (NinaM) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 655 W: 0 N: 1623] (5300)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2008-02-06
Categories: Birds
Camera: Canon EOS 40 D, Canon 100 f2.8 Macro
Exposure: f/5.6, 1/350 seconds
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2008-02-13 8:02
Viewed: 504
Points: 22
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
I don't have much time today because once more, I am going to babysit my little 2 year-old nephew and will be away for two days as it is a 2 1/2 hours ride from here.

I would like to thank you all who have given me your input and comment on my last post, it is very warmly felt.

And for today's post, I have this beautiful female Hairy Woodpecker in the old apple tree of our garden. It's the second day that I post a picture with birds but the main object are the trees.

I love pictures showing the passage of time, how time affects our world and put a shineor signs of wear of things. I am impressed at this apple tree because of that. You can see on the branches the weariness caused by weather, birds foraging its barks, mushrooms and bugs inside its trunk.

Yet, faithful to itself, each spring brings its abundant flowering which is so exquisite and poetic. I love the petals falling on the ground and covering the grass with the lightness and whiteness of purity. Like snow. A last reminder of what it was like a few weeks ago.

At my latitude, spring comes in May, but is at least 3 weeks behind Montreal's spring. So, when I used to commute every week end from Montreal to St-Alphonse, I would leave at spring and arrive in winter... almost. We would be sitting on our balcony, cooking on the bar-b-q yet, mounds of snow on the ground around us. A slight freshness in the air because of that but the warmth of the sun on our faces. Walking in snow with our shoes, crouch crouch, lifting crusts of snow to look underneath at the tiny seedlings coming out the earth... that is so fantastic! Sometimes I go and take the shovel to take away the remaining of the snow and accelerate the process. It's wet, cold and there they are, the little greenies oozing out like magic, bringing hope and the celebration of summer yet to come. Back to the sun where they belong. Then, when the garden is discovered after having at least 4 to 5 feet of snow over it, it is dirty, there is a slight mesh of dirt, decomposed leaves, compost to-be... precious moments.

So, you see, just looking at the branches of this tree made me travel with you through time, unexcpectedly to spring... when I thought I would be writing about the weariness of its old branches.

Please, contemplate those branches and feel the beak of the woodpecker, the sound of its bill splitting the bark. The nude branches of the old apple tree are still filled with promises to come. Bye bye!

Francine

shot in raw, cropped and resized in jpeg for TN
ISO 320
Adjustments with the blacks/exposition followed by the curves ;-)
eqshannon, inked, CeltickRanger, hester, warnzy, jusninasirun, EOSF1 has marked this note useful
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Critiques [Translate]

Very nice shot of the woodpecker. I think he is ready for the snow to go away. Well done.

It is the perfect tree for this bird. It looks a little bedraggled. Lot's of places for insects to bore again as if reinventing the ancestors wheel. Snow doesn't seem to bother it..perhaps it serves a purpose in more than one way...by softening the tree, attracting insects and quenching a bit of thirst. Your notes are as fun to read, as mine are to write:-)
Bob

  • Great 
  • inked Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 134 W: 0 N: 230] (694)
  • [2008-02-13 9:32]

hi Francine,
nice shot. great composition with the rough tree, patch of snow and cute little woodpecker looking cold and miserable. woodpeckers intrigue me, i dont think we have them here, if we do, ive never seen one! thanks for sharing, great job
Gethin

bonjour Francine

une jolie photographie prise sur le vif avec ce pic qui est au travail,
excellente luminosité de l'image avec une excellente densité
des couleurs, excellente netteté & détails et de l'arbre et du pic,
juste à la gauche de l'image c'est surexposé avec Photoshop
qui m'indique 0% de dots, tu peux corriger ça avec les courbes,
en cliquant sur la courbe des ombres et des tons moyens
pour barrer cette partie de la courbe et corriger
cet superexposition en jouant avec la partie des hautes lumières
de la courbe, ainsi on peut ajouter 5 à 6 % de dots là où c'est 0%

TFS

Asbed

  • Great 
  • hester Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1482 W: 18 N: 3044] (11160)
  • [2008-02-13 12:24]

Hi Francine

Lovely shot of your woodpecker and also the twisted textures of the lovely tree. Lovely note as well

TFS

Karan

Hi Francine,

Nice shot, and I like the fact that you have included a lot of the surrounding area, which gives a good impression of the bird's habitat. As well as the bird, you have also captured some nice detail in the wood, which is intersting in its own right. Good work.

Mike

Hello Francine,

I hope you had a good time babysitting your nephew while I am looking at this beautiful post.

I like this post because it gives a wider perspective of the whole picture. The tree and the snow is well captured and the bird is nicely positioned here. A pleasant post and I like it!

Well done and thanks for sharing.

Regards,
Jusni

  • Great 
  • EOSF1 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1427 W: 128 N: 5252] (23221)
  • [2008-02-14 1:26]

Bonjour Francine,bel arbre et bel oiseau! Très jolie composition avec de superbes qualités techniques, bien vu et bien fait! Merci,

Mario

  • Great 
  • joey Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1888 W: 245 N: 6180] (22002)
  • [2008-02-14 1:56]

What a lovely little Woodpecker! :-)
You've exposed the snow perfectly!
Excellent clarity and detail from that 40D.
Very good composition.
Nice colours.
Well done Francine.
Cheers,
Joe

Magnifique composition, très belles couleurs naturelles.
Barvo
Marie

Bonjour Francine,

J'aime bien voir ce pic dans son environnement naturel, les détails de l'arbre ont aussi d'importance que la présence du pic et cette neige en diagonale sur la branche ajoute un bel élément de nos hivers canadiens. La seule petite chose qui donnerait à mon avis plus de force à l'image aurait été d'en faire une composition verticale en éliminant la partie à gauche du tronc...on pourrait toujours apprécier le pic et l'arbre sans toutefois être distrait par les petites branches et la surexposition du blanc. Merci pour le partage!

Lise

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