A subtle discovered moment of Hawk Dreaming

I received a lot of feedback on my Hawk Dreaming post and I’m grateful you liked the story and my writing. I do like writing although I’m a terribly ordinary writer (actually that’s an insult to ordinary writers) but hey, words are cheap on a free blog! Click my Travelog link if you’re bored out of your mind and can’t think of anything better to read!

As a follow up to my Hawk Dreaming story from a few weeks ago, here’s a photo file that I recently dug out of the archives and processed. It is the very last rays of sunlight at Hawk Dreaming lighting up parts of Cannon Rock and I used my Wacom tablet and painting with light in photoshop to subtly enhance the light. I made the rocks glow a little bit extra and I darkened the grass slightly. I particularly like the long narrow cloud above the rocks, a perfect painterly composition.

If you ever wanted to know what a perfectly tranquil sunset at Hawk Dreaming in Kakadu National park feels like then this is better than a thousand of my words:

Click to see large size on my gallery! Copyright Flemming Bo Jensen Photography

Hawk Dreaming Glowing Rock at Sunset Panorama
Copyright Flemming Bo Jensen Photography

Imagine sitting here at the end of a very warm day in tropical Kakadu National Park. It’s just you and Nature. No civilisation visible anywhere (ehm, apart from all your camera gear and the 4WD). Time does not exist. The sun sets very quickly and the light changes from hard, glaring and bald to soft, warm and subtle. The wind settles down in time with the sun and there is suddenly not a single sound in the world and Time seems frozen for a brief moment as the sun sets. A new world awakens as the sun disappears and the sound of nocturnal creatures come alive. The last remaining evidence of daylight in the sky are captured on camera until total darkness signals the end of today’s awe-inspiring show by Nature. You realise you haven’t said a word for 30 minutes and can’t recall breathing. You wish this would last forever. This is why I shoot landscapes.

Well, I told you the photo is better than my words. Oh and one of the nocturnal creatures coming alive – mosquitoes! So do remember some strong repellant like Bushman or you will be eaten alive and become a permanent part of Nature!

Fresh eyes on old photos

One of the disadvantages of going through unprocessed RAW files is that it’s possible to miss some excellent but not so obvious shots. Just like in the traditional darkroom days you have to visualize the end result (Ansel Adams talked a lot about this) because an unprocessed RAW file can look rather dull. So sometimes I end up picking the obvious shots and miss the subtle but better shots like the one above. That is one reason why I never delete a single RAW file from my travel photography. They’re a bit harder to re-shoot than say a photo from my home city of Copenhagen.

Like good music it’s the albums which are less obvious that’s usually the classics in the long run. Obvious becomes tiring quickly because it’s … obvious. So I love going through old RAW files because with fresh eyes I’m sure to spot some yet to be discovered subtle gems!

9 Comments on “A subtle discovered moment of Hawk Dreaming”

  1. Your stories about Kakadu and Hawk Dreaming sound fascinating – one day I want to check the area out myself. BTW, there is nothing wrong with your writing style.

  2. Gudrun; thanks for the support, happy you like my writing style (didn't know I had a style) 😀

    Christian; thanks very much mate, and I'm really looking forward to seeing your Kimberley shots. Actually going there myself in September !

  3. Nice shot mate like the colors in it , Sound like you had a great time there . Will have to get back out there some time ,

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