A Bird’s Eye View

One of the very best aspects of sitting on the cliffs at Pelican Point is that it often puts you at, or even above, the flight path of the seagulls, pelicans, hawks, and ravens that cruise the coastline.

birds-eye-view21

The downside is that it really puts the memory card in your digital camera through its paces.

seagull7_rickandkathy_com

Not that there’s anything wrong with taking literally hundreds and hundreds of photos in an hour.

seagull8_rickandkathy_com

It’s just that it can get so painful to decide what to keep and what to dump.

seagull9_rickandkathy_com

For a painter who’s always on the lookout for a great reference shot for an upcoming painting, it means you or your designated alternate (the wee wifey, say…) shoot, keep, process, and store thousands and thousands and THOUSANDS of photos.

seagull6_rickandkathy_com

I mean, really… is this shot that much different than the one above it, or the five others that where shot in between them? Same bird…

The answer is “yes, in ways too numerous to count.”

seagull3_rickandkathy_com

Even within a single shot, there are multiple images that can–and must–be harvested.

From one perspective, it’s all about the context and spatial relationships between objects…

seagull4_rickandkathy_com

From another, it’s about body shape and color.

seagull5_rickandkathy_com

And from yet another, it’s about how freaking wonderful life is as you recline on a cliff in the late afternoon light, leaning against your sweetie, shooting photos of seagulls.


If you enjoyed this post, share it with your friends! Click the “Share It” button just below, select your social media community of choice… and… doink! You’re the instant sharer of enjoyable stuff. People like that.

6 thoughts on “A Bird’s Eye View

  1. cena

    Hi Rick and Kathy……..Guess where I’m at right now!!!!!!! I am at ;your mother’s, visiting with Lori. This is a special treat for Lori, she wanted to see Reston one more time and be with your Mom and Dad. We are having such a great and cozy time. We bought Twizzlers, potato chips and white chocolate truffles. We also stopped at McDonalds and got some frozen coffee, caramel drink. And it is a rainy, cloudy day and we will have spaghette tonight again. I made a HUGE pot of sauce and had Gary and family and your Dad for dinner. So….now we are getting fatter tonight, because tomorrow we are all going to start to lose weight. Your blog is great and Kathy looks so beautiful, I am so happy for both of you. I will keep up with your blogand enjoy the CD your Dad gave to Lori and me. Lets please stay in touch, Aunt Cena

  2. Debra

    You’re gettin’ it! The easy way to look at this? FILE ALL PHOTOS..these in “Birds in flight” file! And…keep up the good work “wee wifey” 🙂

  3. Sandi Fentiman

    Yeah, I know what you mean about choosing only the pictures you need; it’s not easy, but it must be done. For one thing, the sake of space. A few pictures can tell you the same thing in each one. I would chose, of the seagull pictures; 1,2,4,5 and 7 to give you an overall perspective (s), including feather texture.

Comments are closed.