The Grab Shot

Power Plant & Front Range #2. Legion Park, Boulder, Colorado, 2013

Yesterday morning I was out at Legion Park hoping for some nice sunrise light, when what to my wondering, wandering eyeballs should appear but a huge herd (or murmuration, to be precise) of starlings headed out to the plains. Three huge waves passed over before it finally dawned on me that maybe it would be worth a picture. I pulled the camera off of the tripod that was aimed to the west–the mediocre image above–and pivoted around to capture a single frame–the much more interesting image below–before the chirping mass weaved off into the rising sun.

I wish I had been more open to what was going on out there that morning–I was concentrating so much on the light in the distant mountains (what I thought was the primary subject of the morning) that I almost forgot that nature is quite capable of offering up something totally unexpected. Had I been more flexible, perhaps my starlings image could have been even better. At least I had the sense to get a quick grab shot.

Starlings at Sunrise. Legion Park, Boulder, Colorado, 2013

Starling Poetry

My starlings didn’t do the poetic dance you may have seen before; they seemed to be bent on getting somewhere. If you have never seen this amazing dance, here is a wonderful video that shows just how miraculous it can be.