I went out to my local beach this weekend. I love going there in the winter, partly because there are so few people around, but also because the sunsets are often very beautiful this time of year if the forecast says partly cloudy. The sun sets around 3PM now.
And sometimes I get close encounters with swans.
The white snow on the beach helps reflecting some light back on the swan when I am shooting into the sun.
I know one isn’t supposed to feed them bread but sometimes I do. However, I had forgotten to bring any this time. All I found in the bag was half a hand-me-down Clif bar from the latest workshop, but the swan was happy with it. So we got connected and he or she found my company interesting. (Or this is what I would like to think!) It was great to see it so relaxed around me. I know these swans are used to people but they can get really angry and bite if they feel threatened so I am very careful.
Then some people appeared and I figured I’d just sit quietly until they had passed. But did they walk past me? No! A person with a camera came and sat down next to me. The swan was not happy with the intruder and of course the moment was ruined.
It reminded me about how we were instructed on the last workshop not to get in the other photographers’ way. Not to swarm in if they had managed to get a connection. Which turned out to be a valid point even with the inhabitants at my local beach!
