Perhaps my favorite photograph, or really series of photographs, that I made this year was of this trio of egrets in the rising sun. To get this photograph I arrived at my friend Kevin Fleming’s house at 3:30 in the morning one day last June. Pam Bieler joined us there to get in on the fun. We drove to a boat ramp, launched Kevin’s boat and traveled to an island, all well before the first glow of sunrise. We hauled our equipment out and set up on the marsh to wait to see if anything developed. The first frame I shot that day was at 5:08 a.m. The top edge of the sun broke above the horizon at 5:35, at which time two egrets were resting on the dead tree with their heads tucked down. They looked like two dark lumps on the branches in those frames, decidedly uninteresting subjects. During the next couple of minutes a few egrets flew past the tree but nothing interesting developed. At 5:39 an egret flies in from the left determined to take over the top perch as it calls out, just as the bottom edge of the sun is about to break free. The bottom egret calls back and the top egret leaves to make room for the incoming visitor. This took but a few seconds and I burst 10 frames to capture this very magical moment. The whole morning came together in about 5 seconds of action at precisely the right time. The next 5 minutes or so of perfect sunrise light found no action of note. We had been to this location many times before and have gone many times since but that moment was when it all came together perfectly. Another photograph from this series is posted on Flickr as well as here, and is my most viewed photograph with nearly 1,300 views and 523 comments. It has been made a ‘favorite’ on Flickr by 228 people and has been put in 81 groups. Thanks to all of you for taking the time this year to visit my website and view my photographs. HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!!
One Comment
Another one of my favorites!!!