This is not a sunset.
Sometimes you just have to stop searching for what you think you wanted or needed because it’s not going to happen tonight.
I went out to photograph a sunset, but the sky and landscape were not cooperating. I had a flat, clear sky, not even a blue sky, but one devoid of color at all. The trees had no interesting lighting at all, no backlighting, no front lighting, no side lighting, nada. Just kind of blah.
But then here comes this Canada goose. All interested in what I was doing. Just hanging out in the water by my side. I acknowledged him in all his beautiful glory but kept looking for a way for the light to change. It wasn’t going to change. I should have given up sooner, I know better. But I wanted a sunset.
Then this goose is still there. And I turned to the side, gave him my full attention and realized he was just hanging out, interested in what I was doing and watching me intently out of the corner of his eye. He stayed put. He all but said, “take my picture”. So, finally, I did. I must have gotten 40 images of him. He even hung around as I changed my camera settings several times. I got the most interesting images of him.
I photographed him with my 28 to 300 zoom lens at 5.6 to get his feathers soft and fluffy and have his head and eye stay crisp. And to isolate him just surrounded by the water. He really looked as if I could almost pet him. (No, I didn’t try, not that stupid today.)
In Lightroom post processing, I selected the water and cooled down the temperature to bring a blue-green tint to the muddy waters. The contrast between his soft brown feathers and the blue-green water was just enough to bring a bit of punch to his body coloring. I got rid of some small spots of jetsam and flotsam debris in the water with the clone/healing tool and here he is in all his glory. I do hope you enjoy him as much as I do.
But he is not a sunset, my selfish brain protests. Nope, today, he is a gift better than a sunset. He is a keeper. Hope you find some keepers in your life today. Look around. Maybe, just maybe, there is a different plan for you today.
