Pigeon, Homing - IMRAN™

Pigeon, Homing - IMRAN™, a photo by ImranAnwar on Flickr.

I stood on the shore of Pompano Beach, Florida, more than a thousand miles from the shore of my NY home, and not too far from where I had my second home in Florida.

I was soaking in the late winter sun, the stunning turquoise blue waters, and foaming white surf.

I stopped to take a photo of this wild pigeon, thinking how a breed of this bird can be used as a carrier/homing pigeon that can travel a thousand miles on its own.

It can fly at 50 mph for long distances and even up to 110 mph over short races.

As I contemplated this and looked at the bird, it in turn observed me. It sat there for a while, and then suddenly took off.

I only had an instant to change focus, while the bird focused on the mission at hand.

It was hard to do on a manual focus 300mm-450mm eq zoom which barely had space to focus on the pier wood a few feet from me.

But, in that instant, the shallow depth of field was perfect to catch the pigeon, the moment after it launched, it's wings stretched almost like an eagle's, as it homed in on the Nikon Moment.... Pigeon, Homing!

The Nikon D300 caught the spectacular blue and white rolling surf and sea, the dark grained wood, and the sharp, intensely focused glare of the piegeon's menacing orange ringed eye…. while the sun behind my shoulder reflected its shoulders brightly, making it an intense, interesting and incredible moment.

I hope your imagination also takes off on seeing this photo as you, I, we all, home in our goals in life, in this time we share on this planet.

© 2012 IMRAN
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