The bird was early. So was she.
Before the Appointed Time
Asha had not finished telling Ben where she planned to set up when the bird appeared.
“There, beside that—”
A blue shape flashed over the water. A small splash followed, and by the time she raised her camera, the bird was flying towards the trees.
Ben looked at his watch. “We’re early.”
“So is the bird,” Asha said.
They had arrived at the water’s edge before the light reached their chosen place. Asha wanted to photograph a kingfisher as it came away from the surface, with the movement of its wings and the water visible together.
At thirty-eight, she had spent several years photographing wildlife. She had learned to prepare for the moment she hoped to see, although the animals rarely followed the plan she had made for them.
A Splash at the Edge
They settled at a distance from the water, keeping to a place where they could observe without approaching the bird. Asha checked her camera while Ben watched the surface.
The kingfisher appeared again. It dropped towards the water and rose in a flash of blue and orange. Asha followed it through the viewfinder and pressed the shutter.
“Did you get it?” Ben asked.
“I got something.”
She checked the screen. A spray of water shone against the dark green background, but the bird was partly outside the frame. One wing remained; the rest had already flown beyond the edge.
Ben leaned closer. “That’s a very impressive splash.”
“The bird may have something to say about the cropping.”
Asha showed him the next photograph. The bird was there, but it had moved farther from the water, and the splash had almost settled.
Room for a Wing
Ben pointed towards a stretch of open water visible between the reeds.
“Would that give you more room to follow it?”
“From here, yes.” Asha widened her frame a little. “I can leave space around the place where it comes up.”
They remained where they were and waited. Asha watched the patch of water through the viewfinder, then lowered the camera to rest her hands. Ben saw a ripple near the reeds, but it spread and vanished without another flash of blue.
Asha checked the light once more. “I’d like the wing to be clear, and enough water behind it to show where it has been.”
“You’re asking for quite a lot in one moment.”
“I know. It only has to happen once.”
A little later, Ben touched her sleeve and pointed. The kingfisher was perched across the water. Asha lifted the camera and watched without moving closer.
The bird dropped. A splash opened on the surface, and it rose again. Asha followed its path, taking a short series of photographs as it flew across the open water.
No Schedule from the Bird
The kingfisher disappeared among the trees. Asha lowered the camera, and she and Ben waited quietly before looking at the screen.
In the first image, the splash had just begun. In the next, the bird was lifting clear of the water. In another, its wing opened wide, and droplets hung behind it above the ripples.
“That one,” Ben said.
Asha enlarged the photograph. The blue feathers were clear, and the orange beneath them stood out against the green. There was space ahead of the bird and a trail of water behind.
“Yes,” she said. “That’s the moment I was hoping for.”
They packed their things, leaving the water’s edge as they had found it. The sun had reached the reeds by the time they turned towards the path.
“Was the bird early?” Ben asked.
Asha put the lens cap on her camera. “It didn’t tell me its schedule.”
Livora Gracely ♥
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