Travel-Shots Newsletter
- Mike Pesaturo
- Feb 16
- 2 min read
Updated: Mar 3
March 2026
Hello Everyone
This winter has been a cold one in New England. We have already set the record for the coldest combined December and January in 22 years breaking the previous record set in 2004. The stretch from January 23 to February 1 2026 has broken the 1961 record of extreme prolonged cold. As I write this we are in the beginning of February. Punxsutawney Phil, the national Ground Hog and weather expert, saw his shadow meaning 6 more weeks of winter. Despite the cold, and as much as we hate it, we have been working on photo shoots all season.
On the plus side when doing Winter Shoots there are not any crowds. You can take your time and frame up, focus and find the perfect angle. It's a compromise as the cold, ice and snow make getting around a hassle as well as introducing safety issues. When travelling the weather can delay flights, ships, trains and driving. Fortunately we can stay local for Winter Shoots. New England is picturesque with plenty of photo opportunities, Enjoy!!
Thank you
Mike Pesaturo Photography
Motion Pictures
What we saw when taking this shot was a feeling of motion. To capture it a technique called panning or moving the camera with the motion, the gull, keeps it in focus and is the only thing in focus in our image. Panning the camera with the speed of the gull gives us a slight background blur and creates a feeling of motion. Slow subject and panning gives us a slow motion. A faster subject and panning would have resulted in more blur. As per Isaac Newton's Third Law of Motion - "Every action creates an equal an opposite reaction". In the case of photography we are getting a two dimensional medium to create the illusion of motion. The resulting blur also helps directs the eye to focus on the photo's subject.
All of this gets lost in the original shot that's a full frame image (to the right). The bird is a spec. The motion is hardly noticeable. The foreground is in focus and adds confusion. However, one advantage of using a full frame digital camera is the shot provides plenty of "canvas" and the opportunity to crop the size yet have plenty of pixels for a quality image.
On this shot we cropped the peripheral "stuff" and by elongating it we change the telephoto image into a panoramic view. The new crop is no longer scenery or landscaping photography and now pictures the original concept and the feeling of the gull gliding gracefully over the frozen salt marsh on a cold winter day. By positioning the gull off center the viewer moves the eyes to the right and perceives motion.
Take a minute and enlarge the upper image and enjoy the view. I like the feeling of freedom. Once enlarged, its easy to do an A/B comparison. If you like the final image it's available in our Framed Prints Gallery. Entitled "Winter Gull" the print that will work nicely when matted and framed.
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