Life Cycle

At the marsh yesterday morning, the light was fun, by which I mean it was highly variable, always providing something good but never staying in one place. Heavy cloud cover, spotty rain, and strong wind all combined with the warm side-light from the early morning sun to make for a carnival of changing light conditions. At times, sun would break through to the east of me, other times to the west, or south. Because of the heavy clouds and the way they opened in patches, there were even times when the light was striking to the north. The challenge in such conditions is having the patience to wait for the light to strike an area you've decided will make an interesting shot, and being prepared when it does. I stood in front of this tableau, with what I felt was a good arrangement of elements, waiting for the light to shift. It seemed a pleasing composition, with the two dead trees standing sentinel over the new growth beneath them, a few perched tree swallows, ghostly reflections, and the wonderful backdrop of those powerful, moody clouds. But at first, those moody clouds were so heavy, the scene was very dark, and the colors were lost in grayness. Eventually, clouds over my right shoulder opened just enough to bring good light to my scene, and I got the shot. I like the result, and I hope you do too.

Life Cycle – Killbuck Marsh, Ohio

18-300mm lens at 26mm, hand held, 1/1000” @ f/8, ISO-220, -1/3EV