Arrival
The walk starts under the live oaks, on the brick path that leads down to the lake.
A grackle holds the center line. Everything else waits at the far end of the path.
The Way In
Shot low and wide open so the bricks run out of focus toward the buildings. The bird is small in the frame and still the first thing you find.
45mm · f/2.2 · 1/320 · ISO 320Heron
A tricolored heron, first in the reeds and then up on the boardwalk. Three frames in seventy-four seconds, with the shutter held at 1/400 the whole time.
Wading
One foot lifted, the water still ringing from the last step. The reeds and their reflections turn the frame into vertical stripes, and the heron is the only diagonal.
72mm · f/3.2 · 1/400 · ISO 400Lift
Wings open as it comes up onto the rail. The boardwalk fills the left of the frame and the lake holds the rest.
65mm · f/3.2 · 1/400 · ISO 400The Rail
Ten seconds later, at the long end of the lens. Everything behind the bird melts into a wash, and the rail carries the eye straight to it.
150mm · f/3.2 · 1/400 · ISO 400Stillness
After the heron, the lens came back wide. Magnolias, bald cypress, a path that bends out of sight, and a place to sit.
The Bend
From the boardwalk, over the railing. The path curves one way and the waterline curves the other.
35mm · f/3.2 · 1/400 · ISO 400Magnolia and Cypress
Two greens side by side: the glossy, almost black magnolias and the feathery cypress between them.
50mm · f/3.2 · 1/250 · ISO 100Two Chairs
The last frame. Two empty chairs facing the water as the light turns blue. It's where the walk ends, and an invitation to stay.
38mm · f/4 · 1/125 · ISO 100