February 8, 2013

Our national emblem gracing the sky
For so long I yearned to see,
And envied those fortunate enough
To see him on the wing, being free.

-Stacy Smith

Focus:  Wildlife

Well sometimes it just so happens that you are in the right place at the right time.  That was the case for me today.  I was simply wandering around Washington Park late this afternoon looking for something (really anything) to inspire my photography for the day.  I had pretty much resolved that I was going to do a ‘study’ of a tree (close ups, silhouettes, full frames, etc), when I became aware of all sorts of hubbub from the resident birds;  they were flying around agitated, making all sorts of noise.  It didn’t take long for me to notice a group of people standing around looking up into a tree near the lake.  As luck would have it, a bald eagle had decided to visit the park today and was just sitting, pretty as a picture, for us all to admire – right smack dab in the middle of an urban park.  While I’ve been fortunate enough to see bald eagles in the wild before, I have never been this close to one.  It was spectacular.  Needless to say, my day went ‘from zero to hero’ just like that.

I guess the tree that I was going to photograph will just have to wait for another day…

UPDATE:  While I was photographing the bald eagle at Washington Park on February 8th, I ran into a photojournalist from 9News.  We got to talking about photography/videography and I mentioned that I was doing a Project 365.  He, too, was doing his own Project 365 , using both video and still pictures.  Anyway, he asked if he could shoot some video of my photographing the eagle.  I truly thought his interest was simply part of his personal Project 365, and I had no idea that he was going to use the footage in a news piece that evening.  Naive?  Yes.  But, it is probably good that I didn’t know how the video was going to be used on the news because I probably would have declined – I do not like being on camera!

Anyway, here is a link to the story.  I’m featured near the end of the clip talking a little bit about my Project 365:

http://www.9news.com/news/local/article/315776/222/Bald-eagle-delights-Denver-park-goers