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Forbearance


Forbearance
Photo Information
Copyright: Robert Shannon Sr (eqshannon) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2458 W: 216 N: 10292] (31141)
Genre: Landscapes
Medium: Black & White
Date Taken: 2005-12-05
Categories: Trees
Camera: Fuji Finepix S2 pro
Exposure: f/4.6, 1/83 seconds
Photo Version: Original Version
Theme(s): My Wilderness, Where They Really Live [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2007-08-18 4:13
Viewed: 3258
Points: 34
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
When we pass through the Black and White quiet heart of winter, time appears to stop, quiescent. Chilled air from above the Arctic Circle is saturated with moisture, like a cloud has arrive on earth. In the depth of the ground, we know the potential of spring lies as a serpent and waiting to be called from a silent voice we hear not. For plant and animal , it' is a time of forbearance and patient waiting.

.......Once our evenings meal was over, which was quite early in the night, we took one more trip outside to get wood for the morning fire. This time of year it was dark very early on, but this was an exceptionally cold night and we ate our dinner during light. Knowing that the nights cold temperatures would be well below freezing, our preparations took on a more anxious cast. For in the evening late night hours, the cold becomes totally silent and noise is absent. The silence of evening is so deep that it touches the spirit. One can see but not hear their own breath as they walk. And on this trip to the woodpile, I glanced to the east and noticed something stirring in the trees.......a bird...no noise, just a motion, a blur. I returned to the foyer and pulled at my camera strap, took one step outside and click on the shutter, then returned to my chores...

In the dead of winter late afternoon, I had no idea of what bird this possibly could be. Perhaps a woodpecker. For they are the heartiest souls. Yet he seemed in the picture as vigilant and warning of the night ahead, which sent an early chill up my spine. And yet the next morning, he lay on the ground....frozen. We were still alive and the cabin warmed by newly roused fire. A cup of herbal tea awaited me. I grabbed it and went back outside, slipped and fell on the stairs, breaking my back at number 7 thoracic vertebrae. That simple. That fast. As my life flashed before me, some have said it of drowning....I thought of the bird... and crawled back into the cabin.....which story remaining keeps me to this day in an electric scooter. Do I protest? Life was not always kind to us in the harshest of the mountains. I accepted and stepped on.....
nglen, jmirah, angybone, Luis52, pankajbajpai, Silke, oscarromulus, go2stones, XOTAELE, CeltickRanger, lawhill, Matt-Bird, parthasarathi, c_rapp has marked this note useful
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ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To Evelynn: Ifeqshannon 3 08-18 19:45
To go2stones: Yeseqshannon 1 08-18 15:32
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Critiques [Translate]

  • Great 
  • nglen Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2883 W: 30 N: 9683] (36145)
  • [2007-08-18 4:20]

Hi Bob. We dont get winters as harsh as this in England any more. It makes you wonder how some of the wildlife survive. the little bird in the picture is getting the last of the sun rays.
I like the B/W in this one so much better than colour. lots of diferent shades with the sun behind the clouds. good details. well done TFs. interesting notes to read.
Nick..
have a good wekend.
raining again in Engand today.

Hi Bob,
A really great winter scene. It looked like that here on Christmas morning 2004. I wonder what Galveston will look like in a week??? Anyway, a fine composition with the bird silhouette framed well. Nicely done.

TFS
Jim

  • Great 
  • joey Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1739 W: 224 N: 6872] (24909)
  • [2007-08-18 5:12]

Hi Bob,
an excellent shot.
Our winters barely snow any more!
Sharp with a great composition and atmosphere.
Well done,
Joe

Wow...powerful tale. I never knew what happened to your back.

Beautiful photo but sad too...I think maybe the story made it sad for me.

Moving.

  • Great 
  • Luis52 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1175 W: 8 N: 4240] (15809)
  • [2007-08-18 6:37]

Hola Sr. Bob.- Muy hermosa foto en blanco y negro. Claramente se aprecia la pequeña Ave posada sobre las ramas del pino seco y sobre los copos de nieve. La nota escrita para esta foto y la historia de lo que le paso ahi a Ud. y al pequeño pajarillo son muy tristes, y solo el recuerdo queda. No debemos aferraros al pasado, pues ya paso y no podemos cambiarlo. El futuro no sabemos si sea cierto, asi que hay que vivir solo el dia de hoy como si fuera el ultimo. Saludos de su Amigo. Luis52.

hello bob,
the notes made me feel sorry about the poor bird, here we donot have that kind of winter, the image shows the winter in its full glory,
tfs & regards
pankaj

  • Great 
  • Silke Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 729 W: 98 N: 1707] (5458)
  • [2007-08-18 8:09]

The cold winter sun really adds to the mood of this -- a promise of light but no warmth, not much solace for the lone bird in the lower branches of this composition.
TFS
silke

Hello Bob
A superb shot and note from a scene that most of us wouldnt look twice at.
Great mood and feeling with the bird silhouetted against a failing sun.
All the best
Paul

  • Great 
  • Mana Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1772 W: 36 N: 5597] (18598)
  • [2007-08-18 13:05]

Hi Bob,
Just marking this post and will be back with a proper critique later.
Regards.
Sumon

UNBELIEVABLY GRAND AND BEAUTIFUL, without a doubt.

A 1 all the way.

Bob,
What are you putting in your morning coffee??? Your images have taken another dimension ... for the better...
with a thing called "quality".

Best of the best from your best pal with the flat roof.

And there he sat at his post a silent silhouette. One wonders why he hadn't gone where his companions had gone. I have an aunt who revers birds as some sort of oracles. You made a very nice image, whites and blacks and rays of light in the distance. Well done.

TFS!
Reid

When I see small birds in the snow one just has to wonder how they survive. I suppose some don't. Down is a wonderful insulator I suppose. I like the choice B & W for this image. I would have preferred more space below the bird but in wildlife photography one makes quick decisions.

TFS
Evelynn : )

Fantástica mirada en b/w que hace del paisaje una escena "terrorifica", si no fuera por la impresión de calma y bienestar que emana del pajarillo, que confiado sigue posado en su rama.
Un saludo, JL.

bonjour Bob

une jolie photo d'ambiance de ces hivers
qui parfois sont si dur avec certains oiseaux

Asbed

I can't come out at my amazement, how you capture
this landscapes so well, I can feel the freeze
weather, absolute gorgeous, well done my friend,
TFS. Best regards/Lawhill

Hi Bob,
Even thou this is a black and white image the looks like the hint of blue around the gap in the clouds just off to the centre right of the photo, or are my eyes playing tricks on me? The black and white image really creates a colder feeling image almost bleak and unending feel to winter.
good photo,
regards
Matt.

A story and a show.Snow is every where and a life waiting to get frozen. But a patch of light is there in your frame.Your back could be broken but not the future. Remember ... The life steps down ... life steps up....LIKE YOUR PICTURE.

Cold and brutal winter. Love the b/w white and great silhouette of the poor bird. TFS
Christan

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