[A] Knowing that he wouldn’t be able to buy food on his journey he took large supplies with him = As he knew etc. ; Fearing that the police would recognize him he never went out in daylight = As he feared, etc. ; Being a student he was naturally interested in museums = Because/As he was a student etc. ; The day being fine, we decided to go swimming; «*Being fine the day, we decided …» ; «Being athletic, Tom found the climb quite easy». Realizing that he hadn’t enough money and not wanting to borrow from his father, he decided to pawn his watch ; Not knowing the language and having no friends in the town, he found it hard to get work.
[[A] Estas construcciones se encuentran principalmente en Inglés escrito. El participio de presente puede reemplazar as/since/because + sujeto + verbo, i.e. puede ayudar a explicar la acción que sigue. being al comienzo de una oración («being a student») significará normalmente «as he is/as he was», nunca equivale a «while he was (a student).» El sujeto del participio no tiene que coincidir con el sujeto del verbo que le sigue: «The day being fine, we decided to go swimming»; en casos como este el participio debe seguir a su nombre/pronombre: «Being fine the day, we decided …» es incorrecto. «Being athletic, Tom found the climb quite easy», en cambio, está bien, porque Tom es el sujeto tanto del participio como del verbo que le sigue. Es posible usar dos o más participios, uno después de otro.]
A Practical English Grammar (A.J. Thomson & A.V. Martinet) 