WEEK 2: Playful Bird

On Wednesday, between the storm of showers I walked over the bridge into the UCI Marketplace. Before teaching I sat down near the fountain in the middle of the center. At first I was drawn into the peacefulness of the water sounds. Soon after my attention shifted and I became fascinated with how transparent the sunlight was through the water. I observed how it dripped and poured off the edges that flowed into the basin below. As I sat there, a sparrow came and took a rather playful bath in the fountain. It seems that certain birds get into the process a little more than others! The sun’s white light hitting at a perfect angle between the clouds, allowed me to focus the light on the sparrow. It created a shadow and a three-dimensional image to capture the action. What surprised me was how clear I was able to maintain the focus on the sparrow and capture the motion of water shaking off the bird in mid-air. While drops of water dripped from the fountains upper tier, the sun hit the water as if they were clear marbles floating through space. As light penetrated the water, it becomes attenuated and altered in its spectral composition. Looking through the marbles of water drops, the colors of yellow and blue-green light are visible. The position of the sun, the relation to the camera and the subject helped to define the smallest increments of detail to create a dramatic and exciting photograph.