Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Finding Beauty in the Starkness of Nature

On my recent kayak trip to the San Juan Islands, the tour company owner offered me a discount if I would take some photographs for his website, and I happily agreed. While I came up with many lovely shots, I also came up with this series which somehow focus on the starkness of nature.  Here's an osprey nest against a cloudy sky:
Barnacles clinging to a rock:
And a bald eagle, with a blood-tipped beak:
While not your conventional shots of nature's beauty, I still find these compelling. What do you think of them? And for those of you who aren't squeamish, you can click on the jump link and see one more eagle picture (where the eagle is actually eating its prey). I didn't want to post it with the jump because some might find it disturbing.

ETA: I can't seem to get the jump break to work, so I've left some blank space instead.


















Let me know in the comments if you ventured here and whether you think this would have been appropriate to post without the jump link. It's a great shot technically (and I'm pretty proud of it), but I didn't want to offend anyone.
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12 comments:

  1. Mary BAugust 23, 2011 at 9:09 AM

    In my opinion it doesn't offend it is part of nature and a great shot. Eagles have to kill to live and only kill to live.

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  2. Mary BAugust 23, 2011 at 9:10 AM

    Oops meant to say I love the starkness of the osprey nest

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  3. KesAugust 23, 2011 at 9:40 AM

    I'm reading on my iPhone and have the photo you mention without having to jump anywhere - I don't find it offensive, just thought I'd let you know..

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  4. DeniseAugust 23, 2011 at 12:57 PM

    I love the first one - that reminds me - I took a picture of a heron on it's nest on a roof when we were in Portugal!It's always nice to see nature photographs x

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  5. AnonymousAugust 23, 2011 at 6:33 PM

    I think they're fantastic---all of them. How long was your lens for the eagle shots?

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  6. laurieAugust 23, 2011 at 6:42 PM

    i find these photos fascinating. they are like a peek into another world that we don't see very often.

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  7. AmyAugust 23, 2011 at 7:25 PM

    Not offended, they are fantastic! And, like Karen, I'd like to know what lens you used for the eagle shots!

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  8. IreneAugust 23, 2011 at 9:16 PM

    What great shots, these should be in National Geographic. Your shots are so close, It looks like you were actually right on that eagle. I did not feel offended at all.

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  9. SianAugust 24, 2011 at 5:12 AM

    No, not offended at all! That's a great arrangement you came to - and you did him proud with these pictures

    Complete aside - I've been meaning to tell you that I'm getting lots of hits from people googling "person drawing"!

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  10. scrappyjackyAugust 24, 2011 at 5:43 AM

    I think they're amazing photos...and not offended by them at all. The osprey nest is my favourite.

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  11. YoliAugust 24, 2011 at 6:47 AM

    Personally I'm not offended. I luv watching nature programs which shows scenes a lot more graphic scenes. I am really curious however how you got this shot? What lens did you use to zoom in on the Eagle? Awesome pic.

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  12. Carola BartzAugust 24, 2011 at 9:46 AM

    I had the same "posting problem" when I wrote about "my" owl feeding her young. I had observed it with other people, and some of them said how "gross" this was. I honestly could not understand this attitude. There is nothing gross about a mom feeding her chicks, no matter what. I'm not offended by that at all - but I am offended by the hypocrisy of people who find this natural behavior "gross" while not caring about the conditions some humans keep their livestock. Just my 2 cents.
    These are great pictures, Rinda, and the eagle ones are priceless. Nature in action. Stark beauty, as you said.

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