egret

Egret takes flight from Shinobazu Pond Ueno Japan

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Egret takes flight from Shinobazu Pond in Ueno, Tokyo Japan - November 2008 - Nikon D80 with Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8D lens @ f/2.8 ISO 400 1/4000th -0.33 evThis photograph was a mistake.  I could not react fast enough to catch the egret fully in frame as it took off from Shinobazu Pond in Ueno Park, Tokyo, Japan when out shooting with old friend Can. Mike.  I may have never paid this photograph any attention if not for someone saying they liked it when I showed all the shots of the day to a group of friends.  This was early in my DSLR photography career.  My culling process was not as refined as it is today.  

Now when I look at the image I get a sense of potential, of Freedom, of the unknown.  All I can see is that the bird is in flight and headed to a place I cannot see.  I wonder if it was late in starting its migration?  Now living in Florida, it is a place birds migrate to about this time of year.  It would perhaps be a nice bookend to make an image of an egret landing in water.  

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    • Linda's first DSLR Lesson with her brand new Nikon D90!

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    Linda photographing a friendly egret in Vinoy Park during her first DSLR lesson.

    I got a phone call last night from Linda asking about my DSLR Photography Lessons.  30 minutes later I got another phone call from her as she was checking out at Best Buy with a brand new Nikon D90 with 18-105mm kit lens, a spare battery, a tripod, a Lowepro backpack camera bag and a 8GB SDHC card and asking if we could have a lesson at 10am this morning!  When we first talked I found out she did not yet own a DSLR, so she asked for my recommendation, which off the top of my head was the Nikon D90.  I mentioned the price of around $900 and heard no gasp.  Next thing I knew I was helping her set some specific settings one should when first setting up a Nikon camera.  

    Linda wielding her shiny new Nikon D90 with downtown Saint Petersburg in the background.

    We started out lesson with the very basics, which still can be quite overwhelming for anyone.  By the end of the 2-hour lesson Linda was getting a good grasp on aperture and what a large one is and does as well as when to use a low aperture.  As seen in the top photo, Vinoy Park once again provided a photography student with a patient bird as a practice subject matter.  

    Linda is an eager photography student and I look forward to our future lessons together.