Lens-Artists Challenge #84 – Narrow

NARROW PATH TO A NARROW BRIDGE OVER A NARROW STREAM

“Life’s true sojourn reveals a long winding narrow path that only you can choose.”

R.J. Blizzard

Amy’s challenge this week leaves us with more than one approach, so I’ve  addressed it in two ways. First, of course, is the literal translation above – a narrow path, across a narrow bridge, over a narrow stream. Also quite literal, the image which follows, of a beautiful Little Blue Heron posing its narrow legs on a narrow perch. 

ON A NARROW PERCH

“We fear to trust our wings. We plume and feather them, but dare not throw our weight upon them. We cling too often to the perch.”

Charles Newcomb Baxter

On the other hand, consider a “narrow margin for error”. This is a something that often occurs in wildlife photography. How long do you think the beautiful bird above sat on its perch? Was I prepared for such a moment? Were my settings correct? Was my lens at the ready? Happily in this case the answer was yes.  And what about the image below? Was I ready for the moment the grizzly bear captured its meal? Could I capture him before he moved away? Again, in this case yes. But in many others perhaps not. Both are examples of a very narrow margin for error, as well as evidence of the importance of being ready for the shot you hope to capture.

GOTCHA

“A lack of precision is dangerous when the margin for error is small.”

Donald Rumsfeld

Happily I was also ready for the image that follows, even though the little bear cub seemed content to sit quite still while sucking on his very large thumb. (Do you believe the size of those paws?!) I re-discovered both this image and the one above in my seemingly never-ending chore of moving older images to current technology.

MY WHAT BIG PAWS YOU HAVE

“In the margin for error lies all our room for maneuver.”

James Geary

Finally, in the capture below there is a narrow-beaked oystercatcher working a long narrow oyster bed in the hopes of finding his next meal. His beak and the bed are both examples of the literal use of the word narrow.  He also exhibits a narrow margin for error – at times the target shellfish will beat him to the punch and clamp on his beak, sometimes drowning him when the tide comes in. Or, other birds like gulls and willets will often steal his hard-earned meal.

OYSTERCATCHER ON A NARROW OYSTERBED

“I’d rather learn from one bird how to fly than teach ten thousand stars how not to dance.”

E.E.Cummings

I have no doubt our followers will find other interesting interpretations of Amy’s Narrow challenge. As always, we very much appreciate your support and look forward to seeing your responses.   Remember to Tag them “Lens-Artists”, and to link them to Amy’s original post here.  We hope to see you next week here on Travels and Trifles as I post Challenge # 85.

 

 

Tags: LENS-ARTISTS, narrow, nature

• February 15, 2020
• Photography, Wildlife
• 110 Comments