Most of the time my photos have a well-defined subject. Some of the time, though, I am so interested in trying to capture the mood of the moment that the “subject” occupies only a small part of the frame.
Last Friday, I spotted a large bird perched on a skeletal tree at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I thought at first that it might be a Bald Eagle, but when I zoomed in a bit I could see that it was a Turkey Vulture. I really like the starkness of the bare trees and the way that they give an abstract feel to the landscape. As I was preparing to take a shot, a small flock of Canada Geese flew into the frame and I captured several of them in the photo below.
The resulting image is mostly monochromatic, though you can see occasional glimpses of a warmish brown on some of the broken edges of the trees. If you look really closely at the vulture’s head, you can see a touch of red.
I do not know if this image “works” in conveying the mood of that monochromatic moment, but I thought it might be interesting to share with you my thought process as I experimented in capturing an image that is quite different from my normal wildlife shots.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 