Lance Warley
09-08-2008, 04:57 PM
Here's an attempt at trying to describe a non-ordinary experience... comments appreciated:
The weather was bad here last week. Friday afternoon, though, the skies finally cleared. I grabbed my camera and headed to the nearest wetlands, not expecting much activity because this is a very slow time of year for birds, but looking forward to enjoying the sun on my face.
Driving into the wetlands, I noticed a turtle walking on the blacktop into traffic. I returned it to its habitat thinking, "If nothing else happens, at least that was good."
Inside the wetlands, avian activity was minimal. A heron here, an egret there. No real photo ops. But it was beautiful, and very, very quiet, almost devoid of people. Then things changed. That subtle "shift" occurred, and it turned into a magic moment. I was fully alive. The air was glistening. The plants were shining. Everything was clearer, cleaner.
Time passed. The magic did not fade. My senses drank deeply. I almost started to leave, fully sated. As if from nowhere, an osprey appeared. It slowly circled the water. I hoped for it to plunge, but it didn't launch any hunting dives. It flew higher and higher into the distance, became barely a speck, and almost disappeared. Then another speck appeared, and the specks were moving in concert. Could it be a second osprey? Yes!
They flew together, hunting together, very high, very distant. The osprey pas de deux. Effortlessly, they changed direction, heading back towards me.
They slowly, slowly, slowly circled closer and lower. Eventually one of them flew right by me, giving me the opportunity to make a photo, and were gone.
Then my phone rang. The moment was over, but not in a bad way. Just time to come down from the peak to another level, but not too far down.
40D +400 5.6L @5.6 ss 1/2000 iso 500
The weather was bad here last week. Friday afternoon, though, the skies finally cleared. I grabbed my camera and headed to the nearest wetlands, not expecting much activity because this is a very slow time of year for birds, but looking forward to enjoying the sun on my face.
Driving into the wetlands, I noticed a turtle walking on the blacktop into traffic. I returned it to its habitat thinking, "If nothing else happens, at least that was good."
Inside the wetlands, avian activity was minimal. A heron here, an egret there. No real photo ops. But it was beautiful, and very, very quiet, almost devoid of people. Then things changed. That subtle "shift" occurred, and it turned into a magic moment. I was fully alive. The air was glistening. The plants were shining. Everything was clearer, cleaner.
Time passed. The magic did not fade. My senses drank deeply. I almost started to leave, fully sated. As if from nowhere, an osprey appeared. It slowly circled the water. I hoped for it to plunge, but it didn't launch any hunting dives. It flew higher and higher into the distance, became barely a speck, and almost disappeared. Then another speck appeared, and the specks were moving in concert. Could it be a second osprey? Yes!
They flew together, hunting together, very high, very distant. The osprey pas de deux. Effortlessly, they changed direction, heading back towards me.
They slowly, slowly, slowly circled closer and lower. Eventually one of them flew right by me, giving me the opportunity to make a photo, and were gone.
Then my phone rang. The moment was over, but not in a bad way. Just time to come down from the peak to another level, but not too far down.
40D +400 5.6L @5.6 ss 1/2000 iso 500