“The Vigil”

I’ve dabbled in all sorts of photography styles and subjects over the years. Each one has brought quite a bit of joy, and certainly has added to the skills that I’m fortunate to have developed. Landscape and scenic photography have their own challenges and force you to develop quite a bit of discipline, and patience

The image above, titled “The Vigil” is a story in those qualities. There is an area along the Delaware Bay near our home known as Thompsons Beach. The settlement was wiped out in the tidal wave of 1950. This was also known as the Great Appalachian Storm of 1950. All that remains in that area today is a small bird observation platform and a dirt and shell road leading to the banks of the bay.

We still visit this area quite often, even though I rarely do landscape images these days. It’s a quiet, peaceful, and wide open space with much bird activity. The nest and osprey in this image were a large part of our attention evening after evening. The osprey would arrive each night and perch himself on the tallest tree in the area as if to stand vigil over that nest. We watched him for many nights, and waited for the sunset to be just right. Fortunately the setting sun couldn’t have been in a better location.

On this particular evening there was a blazing sunset and we knew the time was right. The osprey cooperated and arrived just as the sun set. Quite a serendipitous moment. Our patience had paid off for us and I am still proud of the image. The osprey itself is quite small in the image, but the story of the image is not just the osprey, but the open space, serentity, blazing color, and the story of that nightly vigil over his domain.

I hope you have some images that resonate with you as this one does with me. Sometimes the images we capture seem to be a gift to us that happen only a few times.

Take care till next time. Keep yourself safe and feel free to comment or share this post.

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Dave