Sacred Symbols
 

To all of my UWOL Friends as you know I have never been able to finished a contest yet do to work, shooting schedules etc.

I did try on UWOL 7 to filnish the project but was in the field for 7 days and by the time I returned the contest was over. I did promise Kevin and others that when I got some of the film edited I would post a film for your review.

It was all shot with a HVX 200 in -0f temps with wind chills of -40 proving if you trust in yourself you can get the shot. The file is now 26 MB

Please enjoy and comments are welcome.

Enjoy: Link: http://www.arrowmakerproductions.com..._sym_prev.html

Meryem, did not know it this should go here or on the UWOL and again thanks for allowing me to join the group, someday I might finish on time. thanks

Impressive footage! I especially liked the 2nd shot with the moon in the background. I'm always amazed at the patience required to get great bird footage. Hope to see you with a "ready to air" entry next go, you definitely would have had a shot at top 3 with this one.

Mike,
your eagle shoots was amazing! Liked it alot. It seems like you could go prettey near them when it was sitting in the tree feeding on the fish? Was you in a kind of a hide or something?

Good work, hopefully you'll manage to reach the deadline for next round!?

Per,

Thank you for your comments, they are apprecisted.

We set up 3 hides over a 1/2 mile area for as you know the eagle can land just about anyplace they want.

To get to footage of him eating I sat for 4 hours to capture 15 minutes in sub 0 weather, but as you know that magic moment only comes once in a while.

I used the HVX with a converter, the eagle was at time as close as 10 feet from the hide and it was just luck the moon came into the shots at times.

Total over 7 days of shooting we have over 6 hours of useful footage.

White and green camo also helped in this case.

Adrinn,

Thank you for your kind words.

Mike,

That certainly was some good footage! The shots with the moon in the background are killer! You have to be pretty tickled with that!

Can I offer a couple suggestions?

Try adding a drop shadow to your text with an offset of 1.5, a softness of 30 and an opacity of 90. The text is just kind of there and really doesn't pop.

The other thing is the double exposure of the eagle in flight. I thought it was working until towards the end where the tree branches were moving in a different direction and speed because of panning was a little distracting.

It was working when they first got into the tree branches but then
I think if you leave it in there, I'd cut before you really get into the trees where you start moving the camera vertically in one of the shots.

Loved the saturated colors of the eagle feeding on the fish. Course, you know I love that look anyway. :)

Tracking raptors in flight is tough. The closer you zoom in on them the harder it is. I have a little grid I sometimes attach to my LCD if I'm going to try and get some flight shots. Then I'll put the head of the bird on one of those points and try to keep it there. I need more practice and like anything, if you don't keep at it, you lose your touch.

Sometimes I'll sit on a highway overpass and pan with the traffic. Haven;t done that for a while but I probably should.

Look forward to you posting some more footage and hope to see you in challenge #8 in April!!!

Mike,
I tried to watch your footage. After the quicktime "Q" flashes on, your screen turns half pink and half green while it is buffering. then when I hit the start arrow, a message comes on that Internet Explorer has to shut down. Did it twice. Anyone else having the same problem?

very, very nice...loved the moon with the eagle, great shots. i love these magnificent birds.

where do they hang out in minnesota...there's a few around here (more golden eagles than bald eagles, as a rule...) but they like the southwest corner of the state very well..

come join the fun for #8...

Thank you all for your kind words and comments.

I really do enjoy reviews from the people that are in the field shooting nature and understanding the fun and and magic you feel when you capture that special moment.

You all do some wonderful work as displayed in UWOL 7. I will hope to join you all in 8.

I have disabled the link to the Scared Symbols until it is upgraded in a few weeks.

Again thank you

Mike, please let us know when we will be able to watch your video again.
I didn't get a chance to watch it before it was disabled.

Hi All,

I have been ask to reactivate the link in post #1 so it is active as of now enjoy and comment please.

Thanks

Mike, that was amazing!
The favorite is the shot of the eagle with the moon. And the double exposure of the eagle was really cool.
Very sharp images and crisp colors. You did really well.
I'm looking forward to see more of your films.
Stay with us for the future challenges!

Hi all


Really, really, really too beautiful, i stop to film, only one word Amazing.
Olympic national park ?

Gilles

Trond & Gilles,

Thank you all for your kind words.

All of the shooting was done in Minnesota over a very cold 7 days. The Eagles will remain on the rivers for about the next two weeks and then head north to canada and spread out around the state.

Some are already departed and outhers building nests. I have located a couple and will continue to shoot in spring and summer.

As far as the moon goes it was just luck, I could see it out of the corner of my eye and moved the camera to bring it into the shot.

I just returned with another hour of film and am planning to shoot again over the weekend to finish the winter eagle shooting. I will post new stuff as soon as I can.

Gilles, I visited you web site, great video and great color, may I ask what camera you use?

Mike Blumberg
Arrow Maker Productions
http://www.arrowmakerproductions.com

Nature is the Contributor. I am an Observer of the Contributor.