BIRD OF THE WEEK NUMBER 7

American Crow

FOUR YEARS AGO this week I mounted my first exhibit of bird photographs. Port Townsend had been my home for a little over two years. I’d begun to photograph birds in earnest just a year earlier. When I was offered the show, I felt a bit like the Wayne and Garth characters on Saturday Night Live. After Alice Cooper invites them to hang out with him they bow down and proclaim, “We are not worthy, we are not worthy!” The man who sponsored the exhibit—my Alice Cooper— was Bill Curtsinger. Bill, I knew, had pioneered undersea photography in Antarctica for National Geographic and produced thirty-three stories including six covers for the magazine. It was a tremendous shot in the arm to be invited by him, but also a little intimidating.

THE PHOTOGRAPH that first captured Bill’s attention was that of a crow, one of the most common birds in our seaport town. That day, I’d been taking pictures for a couple hours at sunrise in nearby Fort Worden State Park. I was cold and tired and headed back to my car when a bird flew across my field of vision and landed on a railing three feet away. The crow had wood shavings in its beak, probably to build a nest. It looked at me before turning away for a second and then taking off. My camera settings were not ideal, but luckily I got the shot and later put it on the poster I designed for the exhibit.

THE HOUSE WAS PACKED the night of my presentation. Several new friends were in the audience. I was so nervous I thought I might throw up. But once I started showing slides and telling the stories behind the pictures, I relaxed and started to enjoy myself. People even laughed at a few of my jokes. I ended by first showing the crow facing me and then the one above, of the bird turned away. There was an audible gasp and the audience broke into applause. The photograph they applauded breaks the first rule of bird photography, to get a sharp eye. But when editing pictures, I try to keep in mind the sentiment in a poem by e.e. cummings that I first encountered as a teenager. It begins “since feeling is first…”

Nikon D500, 300mm lens, 1/1000 sec, f5.6, ISO 4000