Caspian Tern Across a Morning Sun

This is the luckiest, non-intended photograph I've ever taken. I was

doing my master's thesis on the Caspian Tern in WA state, and was

camped out on an island near the largest colony (at that time) in the

world. I had a camera attachment for a spotting scope, but I had never

used it. I woke to find a rising sun, and decided to photograph it with the

untested spotting scope setup. When the developed film was delivered,

this one frame had caught a tern in a perfect position flying across its

face (a bit soft, yes, but I can easily overlook that, considering the

circumstances). I wrote a long quote from Loren Eiseley that filled the

black space below, but changed the text slightly to fit the photo. A

portion of the quote: "The equation that can explain how a mere tern can

store in its minute brain the pattern of the stars of the universe to guide

it to the ends of the earth has yet to be written. Worship, then, like the

Maya, the unknown zero, the procession of the time-bearing gods."

Stephen, this truly is once in a life time shot! Unless, you decide to spend every morning with a monster zoom in your hands following birds. And atmospheric distortion wobbled the suns disc into an even more interesting shape. On the other hand, your landscape photos did not rely on such a luck, but are still great. Coincidence? I do not think so... Wishing you even more good luck.

great catch super work, well done.

Rich.

great minimalistic.

I have nothing else to offer other than it is a beautiful shot.  Regards, Divya.

A spectacular photo, Stephen.  Simple and evocative.