Morning walk, Christmas Eve

Birds are annoyingly nimble. Their aerial combat maneuvers resemble a CGI kung-fu action scene. I took an embarrassing number of rejects to get three or four good shots. Photography is a bit like golf. Its consuming challenges are stress-reducing and stress-inducing in almost equal measure. The grey winter morning background gave these otherwise rather drab birds an impressive look.


Author: Harold Pollack

Harold Pollack is Helen Ross Professor of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago. He has served on three expert committees of the National Academies of Science. His recent research appears in such journals as Addiction, Journal of the American Medical Association, and American Journal of Public Health. He writes regularly on HIV prevention, crime and drug policy, health reform, and disability policy for American Prospect, tnr.com, and other news outlets. His essay, "Lessons from an Emergency Room Nightmare" was selected for the collection The Best American Medical Writing, 2009. He recently participated, with zero critical acclaim, in the University of Chicago's annual Latke-Hamentaschen debate.

One thought on “Morning walk, Christmas Eve”

  1. I know the feeling. I once burned through 3 rolls of film (back in the day Before Digital) trying to catch some terns diving for fish. For my pains I managed to take 72 alternating shots of calm water with a bit of birdless sky, and a splash of water where a bird was a millisecond before, plus a bit of birdless sky. To this day (some 35 years later) my wife and I joke about getting that great 'splash'…the moment just AFTER the interesting bits have happened 🙂

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