Trip To Tabbagai

Walking out at Solander towards Tabbagai today there were many rock 'faces' to be seen. Michael Hankey saw faces the other day so I know I'm not the only one who sees faces everywhere I look. I call them the guardians and they can be found reaching out from most rocky outcrops. As the sun was rising I saw another one today who resembled a timeless creature but what intrigued me most of all was the shape alongside it which looked a lot like a hawk. Nothing special in itself, except for the fact I'd just been photographing a hawk. I love the way Mother Nature makes you think - synchronicity.

Although it's a hassle to carry two cameras on shoots I needed the wide angle to capture a specific rockpool I had in mind and I knew from experience that an opportunity which did not lend itself to wide angles would crop up some time during the shoot. Frequently these occasions allow no time for preparation or changing lenses so dealing with the double camera hassle is always worth it.
 The sky was less than perfect on the day so the reflection shot is a composite with a sky from another time.

Intent on the patterns created by the golden sun rays hitting the cliff face I almost missed seeing a young hawk nestled on the ledge. The hawk was to be Nature's gift for the day and although I didn't get the exact shot I desired I'm glad I have a digital memory of the experience. The white arrow not only indicates the hawk's camouflaged position on the rock ledge but serves to demonstrate how effectively the little Powershot SX50 can zoom over quite a distance to capture a subject.

These shots was taken with no tripod so I'm quite satisfied with the detail, particularly on the tiny eye.

 He appeared to sense that he was being observed and as soon as I pressed the shutter for this shot, he left his sandstone perch for a more private position.