Coming Home At Sunset

Formerlyjerseyjack

Oct 12, 2015 at 6:51pm

First one is a Snowy Egret reflected in evening sunlight.

Scully

Oct 13, 2015 at 2:48am

LOVE these pictures, especially the egret in flight!

mjh

Oct 13, 2015 at 3:18am

Oh, love them so much. Thanks for sharing.

hauscat

Oct 13, 2015 at 6:27am Edited

Were these taken from the train?

beppolina

Oct 13, 2015 at 12:32pm

I wish there was a "like" button -- that first egret in the late sun is gorgeous! Thank you so much for posting these.

Formerlyjerseyjack

Oct 13, 2015 at 3:17pm

Not taken from a train. Like the majority of my photos, they were taken from the car window at Forsythe Wildlife Preserve in Galloway Twp., N.J. It is a tidal estuary.

I have been photographing there for several years now. I am getting to know the bird flight patterns, the sun patterns in conjunction with reflections in the water.

Sweetsnuggles

Oct 13, 2015 at 3:29pm

Thanks for sharing your photos! They are breathtaking!

zet

Oct 13, 2015 at 4:31pm

Nice!! Egret, brilliant

Thank you for the comments and compliments. While I like the Egret, the drama for me in this set of photos is with the duck swimming by himself, leaving a large wake behind. There is an emptiness in the scene which I am attacted to. It is slightly out of focus. That was a conscious choice but doing it again, I would have focused a bit more closely. What do you think?

I have captured several other scenes in this manner. When I am taking the photo, I see a composition but I am not consciously seeking drama...just looking for an attractive scene or wildlife doing something that is eye catching.

I usually have 2 or 3 seconds to recognize a scene has potential, focus, crop with the lens (or not) and snap the shutter. Wildlife seldom stands still.

Because of my eyes, because of ambient light and other excuses, I can't determine if the photo is the best it could be by looking at it in the camera's screen. But I sometimes find what I missed after I get home and look at the photo on the computer screen. I find myself sometimes saying to myself, "Hey, that ain't half bad." after looking at a photo that I took maybe even a year or two ago.

The preserve is about 3 or 4,000 acres of clear, open space. There are only about 10 trees in the entire preserve. It is flat. By itself it is beautiful with usually no more than two or three other people in the property. This itself allows for beauty. There is a beauty in a wide open space that is different from when I am on a birding trip or hiking in New Jersey woods and fields.

One more from this trip.... another Egret in evening sunlight.

By the way, you have probably seen the preserve if you have been to Atlantic City and looked north from Rt. 30 or the Expressway. You can see about 15 miles clear to the northeast without a tree, hill or obstacle between Rt. 30 and Manahawken. When I visit again, I will try to remember to take a "panorama" photo of the preserve and post it.

Formerlyjerseyjack

Oct 13, 2015 at 6:35pm

What is wonderful is that when I finished typing the last entry, on the top of the banner section was a banner ad from Joy Yagid. Joy does so much for our community and seeing the banner add brought a smile.

sac

Oct 15, 2015 at 2:35pm

Formerlyjerseyjack said:
What is wonderful is that when I finished typing the last entry, on the top of the banner section was a banner ad from Joy Yagid. Joy does so much for our community and seeing the banner add brought a smile.

FJJ - Are the photos hanging up in Park Wood Diner yours?

Formerlyjerseyjack

Oct 16, 2015 at 6:59pm Edited

sac said:

Formerlyjerseyjack said:
What is wonderful is that when I finished typing the last entry, on the top of the banner section was a banner ad from Joy Yagid. Joy does so much for our community and seeing the banner add brought a smile.
+1

FJJ - Are the photos hanging up in Park Wood Diner yours?

Yes, Parkwood's photos are mine. Two in the front booth, across from the counter, are not mine.