These are two of my favorite photographs. A patron at a show once asked me, "aren't they all you're favorites?" Well, some of them are more favorite than others and these are two of them. If I had to choose I'd say I like "Sun Salute" best because of the bird's raised foot but I love the colors of "Sunrise After the Storm".
As you can probably tell they were taken a few moments apart. It was a couple days after Katrina devastated New Orleans. It was a morning of mixed emotions as I traveled the road to Merritt Island on a long overdue photo trip. The trip was not going well. I had gotten out of bed in the dark in order to catch sunrise but low lying clouds completely obscured it. Now the sky was dreary and any color from the sun was behind the clouds. I was thinking of going back home to my warm bed but grabbing a little piece of hope I reflected that, every time I made the extra effort, whether it was getting up before dawn, traveling unfamiliar roads, carrying heavy equipment. Every time I stepped out of the familiar in search of a photograph, God blessed me with something beautiful.
The day was completely awake and the sun slightly over the clouds when I passed a busy boat ramp with cars and people. And I saw the bird sitting on top of the pole looking out over the water. I thought to myself, “No way, there are too many people and cars, I’ve passed my chance to stop, that bird will be long gone.” But then I thought about what I had reflected on earlier and I had to try. I turned around, found a place for my car, hurriedly gathered my equipment, and walked over to take my shot. For a few short minutes, in the midst of the people and cars and boats, it was just me and the bird and the sun. "Sun Salute" was one of the last taken and you can see the sun is going back behind the clouds again. A minute later and I would have missed both shots. As I finished up and put the lens cap on the camera, the bird flew away.
These are two of the photographs that were gifts from God, the ones that almost got away.
The proceeds from several prints of "Sunrise After the Storm" were donated to New Orleans relief through Peter Cohen of ExplodingEye.com.
"Sun Salute" was included in the Crealde Student Art Exhibit in 2006.
Keep your eyes open for the gifts....
Alison
