Category Archives: B&W
Beautiful Great Blue Heron Magic Trick?
Great Blue Heron feathers – B+W – babsjeheron
Look, you might as well know, this thing
is going to take endless repair: rubber bands,
crazy glue, tapioca, the square of the hypotenuse.
Nineteenth century novels. Heartstrings, sunrise:
all of these are useful. Also, feathers.
There’s an exquisite intricacy to feathers, the sublime structures of individual feathers, as well as the interconnectedness of groups of feathers working together in harmony to make flight possible.
Individually, so soft.
Collectively, so strong.
What is soft is strong, as Lao-Tzu says in the Tao Te Ching.
While the magnificent wingspan of the Great Blue Heron is spectacular, the beauty of Heron feathers isn’t limited to the powerful wings. In an earlier post, I shared photos of other less prominent but still stunning feathers, some arranged in intricate patterns. (Please click here to catch up if you missed those earlier photos.)
The feather shown at the top is the same feather as that shown at bottom. Both photos were taken on the same day, with the same camera and lens, within minutes of each other. Only the background colors have been changed. Years ago, before I knew it was not allowed, I gathered those Great Blue Heron aigrette feathers, which I treasure. You can see one of them in my blog’s masthead art.
Is an optical illusion magic? Yes, in fact, many magic tricks employ optical illusions. Some fascinating examples of ‘color illusions’ such as this can be found at Brain Den. Enjoy!
I think we need all the magic we can get. How about you?
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Cee Neuner, Debbie Smyth, and the creative and inspiring Lens Artists Tina, Amy, Patti, and Leya all encourage the community of photographers and writers. Please click the links below to see the beautiful offerings from these wonderful photographers.
The focus for this week’s Lens Artist challenge hosted by Ann-Christine is “One Image One Story.”
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Thanks to Cee for her CBWC: Matching Things.
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Thanks to Debbie for her Six Word Saturday: Leaving snowy Luton for warmer climes. The title is the requisite six words long.
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From Tina Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge 176: One Image, One Story .
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From Patti Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge 176: One Image, One Story .
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From Amy Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge 176: One Image, One Story .
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From Leya Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge 176: One Image, One Story.
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Folks, now that some areas are opening back up, please consider supporting your local Arts communities – whether music, theater, crafts, visual arts venues, and others. All have been impacted over the past year and a half and they need your love more than ever.
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Natick Center Cultural District
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The Natick Center Cultural District is situated in a friendly, classic New England town hosting a vibrant, contemporary fusion of art, culture and business. Learn more!
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My brick & mortar presence in Massachusetts dates back to 2009 in several local venues/galleries.
Please watch this space for news of my upcoming Winter 2022 gallery show.
TCAN – The Center for Arts Natick
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Natick Town Hall
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Five Crows Gallery in Natick
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Audubon Sanctuary
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Be a fly on the wall! Please CLICK HERE to see the Great Blue Herons gracing the gallery walls.
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Remember: Walk softly and carry a long lens.™
May the Muse be with you.™
The Tao of Feathers™
© 2003-2021 Babsje. (https://babsjeheron.wordpress.com)
Great Blue Heron, Kayaking, TCAN, Five Crows, Natick
Read the rest of this entry
Tunnels of Great Blue Heron Love
Great Blue Heron at Keyhole Tunnel – babsjeheron
Great Blue Heron Morning – Charles River Blues Nbr 2 B&W – babsjeheron
Great Blue Herons know the best fishing holes in town: the entrances of tunnels often funnel small schools of fish into waiting Heron bills – tasty Brown Trout, Atlantic Salmon, Walleye, Largemouth Bass and more. Smart fishermen the Herons!
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This post is prompted by Cee Neuner, Debbie Smyth, Marsha Ingrao, and the creative and inspiring Lens Artists Tina, Amy, Patti, and Leya, all of whom encourage the community of photographers and writers. Please click the links below to see the beautiful offerings from these wonderful photographers.
The focus for this week’s Lens Artist challenge hosted by Patti is “Shapes and Designs.” The lead photos today feature very old bridges and their tunnels with interesting arch shapes.
For Marsha’s and Cee’s co-hosted Photographing Public Art: Many towns have Little Free Libraries, but this town has a Free Little Art Gallery: Make Art – Leave Art – Take Art, which encourages making and sharing Art publicly.
Make Art Take Art Natick – babsjeheron
And below you see making Art in a public place in town.
En Plein Air Painting at the Dam Nbr 2 – babsjeheron
One morning I arrived at the Charles River dam and saw a big splash of color looming over the ancient grinding wheel across from the fish ladder. What came into view was first one, then two, then three, then four artists set up in 19th century vignettes with easels under brightly-colored umbrellas. They were spaced a good distance from each other, all with a differing vantage point of the river and dam and old stone bridge where the Herons fish.
En Plein Air Painting at the Dam Nbr 1 – babsjeheron
One of the painters in particular called to mind a scene from the mid-1800s as she gazed out over the lush water lilies floating above the dam, paints at the ready, paintbrush in hand.
The bridge in the second photo at the top of this post was constructed in the mid-19th century. There is a palpable timelessness to this location and the artists and easels enhanced that feeling. I can easily imagine a 19th century painter or photographer capturing an ancestor of one of the Great Blue Herons that frequent the area today.
Rosemary Morelli teaches painting including en plain air style at her studio in eastern Massachusetts. The artists painting at the dam that day were a few of her students.
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Thanks to Cee and Marsha for their jointly hosted PPAC from Marsha: Photographing Public Art Challenge #23. And here’s PPAC from Cee: Photographing Public Art Challenge.
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Thanks to Cee for her CBWC: In or On Water.
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Thanks to Debbie for her Six Word Saturday: I Didn’t Recognize the Christmas Tree. The title is the requisite six words long.
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From Tina Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge 174: Shapes and Designs .
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From Patti Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge 174: Shapes and Designs .
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From Amy Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge 174: Shapes and Designs .
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From Leya Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge 174: Shapes and Designs.
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Folks, now that some areas are opening back up, please consider supporting your local Arts communities – whether music, theater, crafts, visual arts venues, and others. All have been impacted over the past year and a half and they need your love more than ever.
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Natick Center Cultural District
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The Natick Center Cultural District is situated in a friendly, classic New England town hosting a vibrant, contemporary fusion of art, culture and business. Learn more!
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My brick & mortar presence in Massachusetts dates back to 2009 in several local venues/galleries.
Please watch this space for news of my upcoming Winter 2022 gallery show.
TCAN – The Center for Arts Natick
.
Natick Town Hall
.
Five Crows Gallery in Natick
.
Audubon Sanctuary
.
Be a fly on the wall! Please CLICK HERE to see the Great Blue Herons gracing the gallery walls.
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.
Remember: Walk softly and carry a long lens.™
May the Muse be with you.™
The Tao of Feathers™
© 2003-2021 Babsje. (https://babsjeheron.wordpress.com)
Great Blue Heron, Kayaking, TCAN, Five Crows, Natick
Read the rest of this entry
Beautiful Great Blue Heron’s Touchdown
Great Blue Heron Fledgling Touch Down B&W – babsjeheron
Great Blue Heron Fledgling Warrior B&W – babsjeheron
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After feeding the birds that afternoon, I walked over to the shrubbery along the shore to look at the swimming float platform half-way across the cove.
My distance vision isn’t very good. I could tell there was a largish bird on the platform, but not whether it was a Cormorant or a Great Blue Heron from so far away. It was preening, stretching its neck up, bill down, and could have been either as far as I could tell.
I decided to call to it, and if it responded, that would tell me which.
Arrrh.. I called softly.
Arrrh..
And suddenly – before I could utter a third arrrh – there was a short clamoring of frawhnk… frawhnk… frawhnk… coming from my immediate left, not five feet away.
NOT from the Heron on the swimming float – there were two Herons!
Obscured by the trees and bushes, a fledgling Heron had been on a neighbor’s dock.
It heard my call, answered my call, and then flew directly towards the shore where I stood, right past me with less than two feet separating us, and landed on the dock to my right.
I walked over to the path by the dock, careful to not approach too closely, and called again…
Arrrh..
Arrrh..
And the Heron’s neck craned up full height, its right eye seeking me out, watching me, watching me.
I stood still for a long while, until the bird folded its neck back into that graceful curve and began foraging along the shore.
Goosebumps that the fledgling Heron responded to my call, and came closer.
Fledglings are great in that way – fearless their first summer in the world.
I love them for that fearlessness.
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This post is prompted by Cee Neuner, Jez Braithwaite and the creative and inspiring Lens Artists Tina, Amy, Patti, and Leya, all of whom encourage the community of photographers and writers.
Please click the links below to see the beautiful offerings from these wonderful photographers.
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Thanks to Cee for her CBWC: Any structure using concrete. The background is concrete.
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Thanks to Jez for the Water Water Everywhere Challenge. The fpregrpind is water.
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Folks, now that some areas are opening back up, please consider supporting your local Arts communities – whether music, theater, crafts, visual arts venues, and others. All have been impacted over the past year and a half and they need your love more than ever.
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Art in the Park 2021.
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This past Sunday, October 17th, Shaw Park in South Natick came alive with Art in the Park. More than 2 dozen local artists offered their art for visitors. It was a beautiful Autumn day of art and music. (I am still recovering from eye surgery and did not show my photos this year, but hope to see you next October!)
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My brick & mortar presence in Massachusetts dates back to 2009 in several local venues/galleries.
Please watch this space for news of my upcoming Winter 2022 gallery show.
TCAN – The Center for Arts Natick
.
Natick Town Hall
.
Five Crows Gallery in Natick
,
Audubon Sanctuary
.
Be a fly on the wall! You can CLICK HERE to see the gallery walls with Herons .
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.
Remember: Walk softly and carry a long lens.™
May the Muse be with you.™
The Tao of Feathers™
© 2003-2021 Babsje. (https://babsjeheron.wordpress.com)
Great Blue Heron, Kayaking, TCAN, Five Crows, Natick
Read the rest of this entry
Great Blue Heron Time Stands Still
Pterodactyl? Great blue heron catching prize fish – babsjeheron
At breakneck speed, all were flung into the present as the man in the bass boat bellowed “It’s a Pterodactyl! It’s an effing Pterodactyl!”
At the time it was amusing – I had my head down stowing gear under the bow of the kayak and didn’t actually see the Great Blue Heron, but hearing the man shriek about a Pterodactyl left no doubt about what had just crossed his bow. So, when even a random fisherman makes that association, I am definitely not alone in seeing Great Blue Herons as modern-day relics of a prehistoric time.
Time stood still that day in the secluded cove.
The rumbling of a lumbering Diplodocus moving towards the tallest stand of trees echoed over the ridge. A school of Leedsichthys searched for plankton in the watery depths, swishing this way and that. Overhead, a flock of Archaeopteryx flapped and wheeled, warming their wings in the late day sunlight.
A lone Pterosaur spied a prize fish and dove towards the water, and in the instant it surfaced with the fish, time stopped standing still.
At breakneck speed, all were flung into the present as the man in the bass boat bellowed, “It’s a Pterodactyl! It’s an effing Pterodactyl!”
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The fisherman really did bellow that quote in the channel. At the time it happened, I was looking down in the cockpit of the kayak, stowing gear. The moment I heard his shouting, I knew it could only mean one thing: a Great Blue Heron flying nearby.
I rendered the photo in B&W to give it a more ancient look, and besides – they didn’t have color film back when Pterodactyls ruled the skies.
According to the wonderful resource, Heron Conservation:
The herons are a fairly ancient group of birds. Although bird fossils are rare, herons are exceptionally rare even by avian standards totaling fewer than 40 identified species. Herons first emerge in the fossil record some 60 -38 million years ago.
When even a random fisherman at my lake makes that association, I am definitely not alone in seeing Great Blue Herons as modern-day relics of a prehistoric time.
That gives me goosebumps!
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Thanks to Cee for her CFFC: Birds. A Pterodactyl is a bird, right?
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Thanks to Debbie for her Six Word Saturday . This post title has the requisite six words!
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Thanks again to Paula for her earlier Black & White Sunday: Traces of the Past photo prompt. I’m linking to one of Paula’s earlier challenges, an act which involves something from the past, and certainly a Pterodactyl is from a trace of the past.
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The amazing Lens Artists Tina, Patti, Amy, and Leya are taking a much-deserved and much-needed break for the month of July. This week’s challenge focuses on the topic Black & White. Anne Sandler from her blog Slow Shutter Speed is the host this week.
Check out Anne’s beautiful B&W photos here: Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge 156: Black and White .
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Folks, now that some areas are opening back up, please consider supporting your local Arts communities – whether music, theater, crafts, visual arts venues, and others. All have been impacted over the past year and they need your love.
My brick & mortar presence in Massachusetts dates back to 2009 in several local venues/galleries.
2015 (May), 2016 (March and July), 2018 (May, June, July), 2019 (December), 2020 (January) several one-woman photography shows at TCAN – The Center for Arts Natick
.
2018 (September, October) one-woman photography show at Natick Town Hall
.
2013 thru now 2021 Five Crows Gallery in Natick
,
2009 one-woman photography show at a local Audubon Sanctuary
.
From December 4 through January 28, 2020, my Great Blue Heron photographs were once again on display on the walls of the lobby and theater in a free one-woman show at the Summer Street Gallery, of The Center for Arts in Natick.
Many of the photos in the exhibit were shown for the first time, and do not appear on the blog. As always, many of the photos were taken on the waterways of the Charles River watershed.
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Thanks to Erica V and WordPress for the recent WPC: Place in the World. My favorite place is where the Herons are, of course it is. And the Herons? Their place is near the water, but also on the gallery walls and my blog. How else can I share them with you?
Thanks also to Ben H and WordPress for their WPC Challenge: Liquid. The Herons are drawn to water, as am I.
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Remember: Walk softly and carry a long lens.™
The Tao of Feathers™
© 2003-2021 Babsje. (https://babsjeheron.wordpress.com)
Great Blue Heron, TCAN, Five Crows, Natick
Read the rest of this entry
Great Blue Herons and My 15 Minutes of Satellite Fame on the Water
Wherein the Great Blue Heron Sticks her Landing at the Waterfall – babsjeheron
The helicopter flew low and slow above the channel. I glanced up at it quickly to see what insignia it carried, but didn’t bother with the binoculars and so didn’t get a good look. Helicopters aren’t rare over the lake, in fact the building next door had one parked on the roof, and besides, I was in a hurry to find Great Blue Herons to photograph.
I nosed the kayak through the first tunnel, then curved sharp right into the slender finger-like cove where Herons sometimes perched. Just as the kayak slid out from under the tree canopy, I heard it again. The helicopter was flying directly over the cove. Since the cove paralleled the turnpike for a small distance, I thought maybe it was a traffic copter, put it out of mind and paddled deeper seeking out Herons.
No luck finding Herons there, I paddled back out towards the big lake. Just as I exited the cove, the helicopter reappeared, right overhead again. Seeing the same helicopter in a short timespan over a small area seemed odd. Maybe it wasn’t traffic-related, I thought, maybe it was a video crew getting some B-roll footage for TV or a movie being filmed near Boston. Whatever it was, I hoped they wouldn’t capture me. I’m notoriously camera-shy. It’s not about me, it’s about the Great Blue Herons. In school, they taught us, “Report the story, don’t BE the story.” Words to live by.
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Guess who in the blue kayak? – babsjeheron
By the fourth time I encountered the helicopter that morning, I decided to make contact, and gave them a big wave goodbye with my paddle and took the kayak elsewhere on the lake.
Fast forward to the next winter.
It was a stormy night, one of those howling New England winter storms that made me long for warm days on the water. That night, I was frittering away some time online before sleep, and in an idle moment wondered what the lake looked like in a satellite view.
I found the lake, at left in this next photo, and then zoomed in until I found some of my favorite nooks and crannies, and then zoomed in again. In the second frame are two light dots. I zoomed in again, and in the third frame, the dots are larger still.
And with one final click to zoom in as close in as the satelite/mapping software allows, the two dots become two vessels. One, a fishing boat. The other? A blue kayak. With me aboard.
And then it all came back to me in retrospect, the day of the helicopter. It wasn’t the traffic or news or B-roll, it was part of the Google mapping project. And my concern about being captured was NOT unfounded.
At least a viewer can’t zoom in any closer than in the top photo of this post. I can live with that degree of anonymity. I think.
Zooming in on the lake – babsjeheron
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Out of curiosity, I looked for a satellite image of one of the nesting islands near here. The Herons and/or their nests stand out starkly in this next image.
Can you count the Great Blue Herons’ nests on the island in this satellite view? – babsjeheron
By my informal count, there are at least 70 nests and/or Herons visible in that satellite view.
My heart leaps with joy at their numbers.
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Thanks to Cee for her CBWC: Trees or Tree Parts. The satellite view of the nesting island has enough trees to support.that large Heron colony.
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The amazing Lens Artists Tina, Patti, Amy, and Leya are taking a much-deserved and much-needed break for the month of July. This week’s challenge focuses on the topic On The Water. John Steiner is the host this week.
Check out John’s beautiful water photos here: Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge 155: On the Water .
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Folks, now that some areas are opening back up, please consider supporting your local Arts communities – whether music, theater, crafts, visual arts venues, and others. All have been impacted over the past year and they need your love.
My brick & mortar presence in Massachusetts dates back to 2009 in several local venues/galleries.
2015 (May), 2016 (March and July), 2018 (May, June, July), 2019 (December), 2020 (January) several one-woman photography shows at TCAN – The Center for Arts Natick
.
2018 (September, October) one-woman photography show at Natick Town Hall
.
2013 thru now 2021 Five Crows Gallery in Natick
,
2009 one-woman photography show at a local Audubon Sanctuary
.
From December 4 through January 28, 2020, my Great Blue Heron photographs were once again on display on the walls of the lobby and theater in a free one-woman show at the Summer Street Gallery, of The Center for Arts in Natick.
Many of the photos in the exhibit were shown for the first time, and do not appear on the blog. As always, many of the photos were taken on the waterways of the Charles River watershed.
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.
Thanks to Erica V and WordPress for the recent WPC: Place in the World. My favorite place is where the Herons are, of course it is. And the Herons? Their place is near the water, but also on the gallery walls and my blog. How else can I share them with you?
Thanks also to Ben H and WordPress for their WPC Challenge: Liquid. The Herons are drawn to water, as am I.
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Remember: Walk softly and carry a long lens.™
The Tao of Feathers™
© 2003-2021 Babsje. (https://babsjeheron.wordpress.com)
Great Blue Heron, TCAN, Five Crows, Natick
Read the rest of this entry
Beautiful Great Blue Heron Garbo
Great Blue Heron Garbo Pose – bw – babsjeheron
When I Met My Muse
I glanced at her and took my glasses
off–they were still singing. They buzzed
like a locust on the coffee table and then
ceased. Her voice belled forth, and the
sunlight bent. I felt the ceiling arch, and
knew that nails up there took a new grip
on whatever they touched. “I am your own
way of looking at things,” she said. “When
you allow me to live with you, every
glance at the world around you will be
a sort of salvation.” And I took her hand.When I Met My Muse
by William Stafford
Ask Me: 100 Essential Poems of William Stafford
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Over decades of spending time with dozens of Great Blue Herons, I have given names to only three: Romeo, his (unrequited) inamorata Juliette, and the Heron you see today, Garbo. Are there any artists who don’t fall in love with their models, their muses? I am unabashedly smitten by Garbo.
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Experimenting with the final look and feel of a photograph using different color tones is a fun method of artistic license. The photos here show the same scene rendered 5 different ways. The top version is an infrared-style B&W. Next, clockwise from top left are Sepia, B&W, Cyanotype, and then Full Color.
Great Blue Heron, Takes 2, 3, 4, and 5 – babsjeheron
How much artistic license is too much?
As befitting the name of this beautiful Heron – Garbo – I think an old-style platinum print would be best.
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Thanks to Cee for her CBWC: Five. Today’s post has five photos.
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This week’s Lens Artist challenge from the amazing artists Patti, Tina, Amy, and Leya, focuses on our One Photo Two Ways. I took some liberty and used five ways, not two. Check out the Lens Artists’ beautiful photos here:
From Patti Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge 154: One Photo Two Ways .
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From Tina Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge 154: One Photo Two Ways .
From Amy Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge 154: One Photo Two Ways .
From Leya Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge 154: One Photo Two Ways .
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Folks, now that some areas are opening back up, please consider supporting your local Arts communities – whether music, theater, crafts, visual arts venues, and others. All have been impacted over the past year and they need your love.
My brick & mortar presence in Massachusetts dates back to 2009 in several local venues/galleries.
2015 (May), 2016 (March and July), 2018 (May, June, July), 2019 (December), 2020 (January) several one-woman photography shows at TCAN – The Center for Arts Natick
.
2018 (September, October) one-woman photography show at Natick Town Hall
.
2013 thru now 2021 Five Crows Gallery in Natick
,
2009 one-woman photography show at a local Audubon Sanctuary
.
From December 4 through January 28, 2020, my Great Blue Heron photographs were once again on display on the walls of the lobby and theater in a free one-woman show at the Summer Street Gallery, of The Center for Arts in Natick.
Many of the photos in the exhibit were shown for the first time, and do not appear on the blog. As always, many of the photos were taken on the waterways of the Charles River watershed.
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.
Thanks to Erica V and WordPress for the recent WPC: Place in the World. My favorite place is where the Herons are, of course it is. And the Herons? Their place is near the water, but also on the gallery walls and my blog. How else can I share them with you?
Thanks also to Ben H and WordPress for their WPC Challenge: Liquid. The Herons are drawn to water, as am I.
.
Remember: Walk softly and carry a long lens.™
The Tao of Feathers™
© 2003-2021 Babsje. (https://babsjeheron.wordpress.com)
Great Blue Heron, TCAN, Five Crows, Natick
Read the rest of this entry
Beautiful Great Blue Herons on Display
Great Blue Heron at Head of the Cove v2 – babsjeheron
There is not only peacefulness, there is joy. And the joy, less deniable in its evidence than the peacefulness, is the confirmation of it. I sat one summer evening and watched a great blue heron make his descent from the top of the hill into the valley. He came down at a measured deliberate pace, stately as always, like a dignitary going down a stair. And then, at a point I judged to be midway over the river, without at all varying his wingbeat he did a backward turn in the air, a loop-the-loop. It could only have been a gesture of pure exuberance, of joy — a speaking of his sense of the evening, the day’s fulfillment, his descent homeward.
Wendell Berry
The Art of the Commonplace: Agrarian Essays by Wendell Berry
Great blue heron fishing in water falling over a dam in the Charles River Watershed.
From December 4 through January 25, 2020, my Great Blue Heron photographs are once again on display on the walls of the lobby and theater in a free one-woman show at the Summer Street Gallery, of The Center for Arts in Natick.
Since 2001, the Center for Arts Natick has been housed in the circa 1875 historic Central Fire House, where the Summer Street Gallery provides an opportunity for accomplished visual artists in the region to have their work prominently displayed for TCAN’s diverse and loyal audience.
141 years after the Firehouse was first constructed in 1875, TCAN installed an intimate new venue on the second floor of the historic firehouse for concerts, movies, and events, with new professional gallery space for the visual arts. 543 backers pledged $103,420 in a Kickstater campaign that helped bring this project to life.
If you’re in the Boston or Metro West area, please stop by to see the Great Blue Herons. Many of the photos in the exhibit are being shown for the first time, and do not appear on the blog. As always, many of the photos were taken on the waterways of the Charles River watershed.
The gallery is open whenever the box office is open, so please check hours here.
And who knows, maybe I’ll see you there one day.
I’d like that.
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Debbie’s Six Word Saturday’s prompt asks for posts with six words in the title Helpful Hound in the Kitchen . Following the rules for a change, this post has exactly six words in the title.
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Thanks again to the inspiring Lens Artists – Patti, Tina, Amy, and Leya – for their continuing devotion to elevating and celebrating photography.
From Patti Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge 76: On Display.
From Tina Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge 76: On Display.
From Amy Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge 76: On Display.
From Leya Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge 76: On Display.
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Thanks to Erica V and WordPress for the recent WPC: Place in the World. My favorite place is where the Herons are, of course it is. And the Herons? Their place is near the water, but also on the gallery walls and my blog. How else can I share them with you?
Thanks also to Ben H and WordPress for their WPC Challenge: Liquid. The Herons are drawn to water, as am I.
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During September and October, 2018, the Great Blue Herons were featured on the walls of the Natick Town Hall, located at 13 East Central Street in Natick, MA.
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Remember: Walk softly and carry a long lens.™
The Tao of Feathers™
© 2019 Babsje. (https://babsjeheron.wordpress.com)
Great Blue Heron, TCAN, Five Crows, Natick
Read the rest of this entry
Great Blue Heron’s Guest Bird of the Day: Beautiful Swan Taking a Bath
And did you feel it, in your heart, how it pertained to everything?
And have you too finally figured out what beauty is for?
And have you changed your life?
Mute Swan Bathing Beauty – babsjeheron
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The secret is to stay present always, to not take nature for granted no matter how often we think we are seeing the same ol’ same ol’.
That Saturday, I was tired, and the journey back to the home dock would take another hour and a half. I had already bagged a fair number of Great Blue Heron captures and was eager to take out.
From a distance, I gave a passing glance at the southern shoreline and saw the usual pair of Mute Swans floating in their usual spot, and so I paddled on.
Rounding the curve below the Labs, coming closer to the Swans, I noticed an odd-looking thrashing and splashing unlike any Sawn behavior I’d seen before.
Binoculars up, I sat transfixed, watching from across the channel as one of the Swans took a Saturday bath. Amazing.
Many of us have seen Robins, or Warblers, or other small songbirds splashing about in a backyard garden birdbath. Now, imagine a bird with a 7-to-8 foot wingspan behaving just the same – dunking their head and neck fully below the surface, coming back up to shake off the water, rearing up on legs, wings akimbo flapping and expelling droplets galore, and preening, preening, preening to sort out feathers. The Swan’s bath lasted more than 15 minutes. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.
And so, as I said before, the secret is to stay present always, to not take nature for granted no matter how often we think we are seeing the same ol’ same ol’.
View other large birds bathing: Red Tailed Hawks aka Beauteous Buteo and a Great Blue Heron aka Rubber Ducky You’re the One.
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For the months of September and October, the Great Blue Herons are featured on the walls of the Natick Town Hall, located at 13 East Central Street in Natick, MA. Feel free to stop in during office hours Monday thru Wednesday 8:00 am – 5:00 pm; Thursday 8:00 am – 7:00 pm; Friday 8:00 am – 12:30 pm
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From May 1 through July 11, 2018, my Great Blue Heron photographs once again graced the walls of the lobby and theater in a free one-woman show at the Summer Street Gallery, of The Center for Arts in Natick. If you’re in the Boston or Metro West area, please stop by to see the Great Blue Herons. As always, many of the photos were taken on the waterways of the Charles River watershed. The gallery is open whenever the box office is open, so please check hours here.
Thanks to Cee for her recent WPC: Black & White Challenge. The Mute Swan bathing beauty turned in gentle circles for more than 15 minutes taking that Saturday bath. It was mesmerizing. (And apologies to Cee for once again bending the rules.)
Thanks again to Paula for her earlier WPC: Black & White Sunday: Traces of the Past. This bridge and tunnel are from days gone by, using ingenious technology of the earlier era.
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Thanks to Erica V and WordPress for the recent WPC: Place in the World. My favorite place is where the Herons are, of course it is. And the Herons? Their place is near the water, but also on the gallery walls and my blog. How else can I share them with you?
Thanks also to Ben H and WordPress for their WPC Challenge: Liquid. The Herons are drawn to water, as am I.
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Through July 13, 2017 I was a Featured Artist at the Five Crows Gallery in Natick, MA. Drop in and see the work of the many wonderfully creative artists who show there when you’re in the area. Five Crows is on FaceBook.
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Remember: Walk softly and carry a long lens.™
The Tao of Feathers™
© 2018 Babsje. (https://babsjeheron.wordpress.com)
Great Blue Heron, Kayaking, TCAN, Five Crows, B&W
Beautiful Great Blue Herons – A Retrospective, Nbr 2
There are ways of seeing and there are ways of seeing. The way of the photographer need not be only the way of gadgetry and technology and calculations. The way of mindful seeing can open the lens as wide as one’s imagination.
Babsje
Great Blue Heron – babsjeheron
As a nature photographer, spending time on the water with the Great Blue Herons is a meditation in and of itself. Capturing a photo that conveys the experience in the moment is a pleasing bonus. And then being able to share my love for these magnificent birds with others via blog posts or at galleries where I show is the icing on the cake.
I think that is a universal for artists – there is the joy of creating , and then the act of releasing the art into the world, followed by watching as a fly on the wall as others respond to the art – whether music or painting or writings – whatever the medium.
Many thanks to the creative team at WordPress who have made sharing the Great Blue Herons here over the past 5 years possible.
How long she was under, I cannot say, I lost track of time, but when she resurfaced, her prize catch struggled mightily, the curve of its back straining left then right, scales and fins glistening. It was an epic fight. And when she struggled to shore under the weight of her prey, I’m not sure whose eyes held more surprise — mine, hers, or the one that didn’t get away.
Click here for The One that Didn’t Get Away.
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The day of my artist reception at Mass Audubon, I spent some time sitting outside on a bench before going inside to meet & greet gallery visitors. I sat there under the trees, composing myself and enjoying the dappled sunlight when suddenly I felt it. Plop!
Click here for Pictures at an Exhibition.
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Time stood still that day in the secluded cove. The rumbling of a lumbering Diplodocus moving towards the tallest stand of trees echoed over the ridge. A school of Leedsichthys searched for plankton in the watery depths, swishing this way and that. Overhead, a flock of Archaeopteryx flapped and wheeled, warming their wings in the late day sunlight.
Click here for It’s a Pterodactyl!.
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She flew low and slow, the water’s surface mere inches below her wing tips. I watched wordlessly from the eastern shore, taking in her grace and economy of movement. An engineer friend once explained to me that birds fly so close to the water because it gives them maximum air resistance for those huge wings.
Click here for Wordlessly Watching .
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Great Blue Heron in Small Pond
Are there any artists who don’t fall in love with their models, their muses?
Click here for Artists and Models.
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Thanks to Krista S and WordPress for this week’s final WPC: All Time Favorites. Joining the chorus of folks who will miss the weekly and daily prompts, and the creative team at WordPress who have made them possible for all those years. Thanks for your enthusiasm and encouragement everyone.
Thanks to Cee N and WordPress for her COB Photo Challenge: May 27 2018. Look closely at the photo of the Great Blue Heron winging her way across the water. Do you see anything odd about her left leg? That extra ‘bend’ shows a broken leg. (And apologies to Cee for once again bending the rules.)
Thanks to Paula and WordPress for her Black & White Sunday: Traces of the Past. The B&W photo of the Great Blue Heron with “It’s a Pterodactyl” would be much less evocative of the prehistoric era if presented color. (Linking to an earlier challenge from Paula, who runs the very good “Thursday’s Special.”)
Thanks again to Erica V and WordPress for the recent WPC: Place in the World. My favorite place in the world is on the water with the beloved Great Blue Herons.
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From May 1 through July 11, 2018, my Great Blue Heron photographs once again grace the walls of the lobby and theater in a free one-woman show at the Summer Street Gallery, of The Center for Arts in Natick. If you’re in the Boston or Metro West area, please stop by to see the Great Blue Herons. As always, many of the photos were taken on the waterways of the Charles River watershed. The gallery is open whenever the box office is open, so please check hours here.
.
.
Remember: Walk softly and carry a long lens.™
The Tao of Feathers™
© 2018 Babsje. (https://babsjeheron.wordpress.com)
Great Blue Heron, Kayaking, TCAN, Five Crows
Great Blue Heron’s Artistic License?
Heron and Roots – B&W- babsjeheron
Back in the day, when darkrooms were physical spaces in 3D, photography was a much more sensory experience. The otherworldly red glow of the safelight seemed a portal into another dimension. The vinegary odor of the stop bath a pungent treat for the nose. The feel of wet paper beneath fingertips as you gently rub areas of the emerging image to bring out details. The whisking motion of the dodging tool to reduce over-exposed areas. Back in the day, black & white prints were the order of the day.
And today? It seems like “artistic license’ to create B&W prints!
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Thanks to Jen H and WordPress for this week’s WPC Challenge: Satisfaction/. No two days on the water with the Great Blue Herons are the same. I find it very satisfying that there continue to be ways of seeing with fresh eyes. In more than a dozen years exploring those waters, I had not noticed the exquisite, sun-bleached roots of this tree until the Great Blue drew herself, and my eyes, up to the base of the hill.
Thanks also to Paula for hosting her Black & White Sunday: After and Before. The photo in today’s post is a “before” and yesterday’s is an “after.” Before and after what? Before digital photography tools made color photography mainstream, B&W predominated.
Thanks to Cee for hosting Cee’s Black White Challenge: Things Made with Wood. What is more ‘made with wood’ than a tree and it’s roots?
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Through July 13, 2017 I was a Featured Artist at the Five Crows Gallery in Natick, MA. Drop in and see the work of the many wonderfully creative artists who show there when you’re in the area.
Five Crows is on FaceBook. To give the gallery a visit, please click here.
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From July 1 through July 30, 2016, I was the Featured Artist of the Month at the Summer Street Gallery. The Great Blue Heron photographs once again graced the walls of the lobby and theater in a one-woman show at The Center for Arts in Natick. In addition to the visual arts shown at the gallery, TCAN has a lively, dynamic lineup of upcoming performing artists.
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Remember: Walk softly and carry a long lens.™
The Tao of Feathers™
© 2017 Babsje. (https://babsjeheron.wordpress.com)
Great Blue Heron, Kayaking, TCAN, Five Crows
Babsje Heron 