Michael A Nelson
Return to Haystack Rock, and a story
First, here's another image of Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach. I love Cannon Beach, so when I got my DSLR this past Christmas, that was one of the first places that I went, and an image of Haystack Rock was one of the first things that I posted to Flickr. Well, this past weekend, I headed back to Cannon Beach to see what Haystack Rock would look like now that I've learned a little bit about photography, and here's the result. I'm not sure if it's an improvement or not, but regardless, it's been a fun four months of learning.
Now, for the story part: After my photo session with Haystack Rock, I drove down the coast a few miles and hiked into Cape Falcon. When I reached the cliffs that overlook the ocean, the sun was out and it was beautiful and warm, so I looked around and found a nice spot on the rocks to lay down and relax. It felt wonderful, so I laid there for almost an hour, just listening to the ocean and watching the seagulls fly by. When it was time to hike back, I thought I should clean my camera lens first, so I pulled my camera and cleaning equipment out of my camera bag, and there I sat, happily cleaning away.
. . . And then, for some reason, I looked up into the sky.
GAAAAHHH! Talons! Feathers! Everywhere! A huge bald eagle was just five feet above me, wings outstretched and talons extended, coming in for the kill! I *freaked* out, and then---of course, I immediately thought about Flickr---so I dropped my cleaning equipment and tried to aim my camera at the eagle, at which point the eagle panicked and started trying to get away from me as fast as it could, because---I can only assume, just like me, it didn't like having its picture taken. Sadly, in all the commotion, I wasn't able to get a good shot of the eagle, basically just a shot of its rear-end as it was flying away, not exactly the greatest portrait I've ever taken.
So, there you have it, my "I almost got eaten by an eagle" story. The moral of this story is, hm, watch out for predatory raptors when you clean your lens? I have no idea. I'm just happy to still be here. :)
Return to Haystack Rock, and a story
First, here's another image of Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach. I love Cannon Beach, so when I got my DSLR this past Christmas, that was one of the first places that I went, and an image of Haystack Rock was one of the first things that I posted to Flickr. Well, this past weekend, I headed back to Cannon Beach to see what Haystack Rock would look like now that I've learned a little bit about photography, and here's the result. I'm not sure if it's an improvement or not, but regardless, it's been a fun four months of learning.
Now, for the story part: After my photo session with Haystack Rock, I drove down the coast a few miles and hiked into Cape Falcon. When I reached the cliffs that overlook the ocean, the sun was out and it was beautiful and warm, so I looked around and found a nice spot on the rocks to lay down and relax. It felt wonderful, so I laid there for almost an hour, just listening to the ocean and watching the seagulls fly by. When it was time to hike back, I thought I should clean my camera lens first, so I pulled my camera and cleaning equipment out of my camera bag, and there I sat, happily cleaning away.
. . . And then, for some reason, I looked up into the sky.
GAAAAHHH! Talons! Feathers! Everywhere! A huge bald eagle was just five feet above me, wings outstretched and talons extended, coming in for the kill! I *freaked* out, and then---of course, I immediately thought about Flickr---so I dropped my cleaning equipment and tried to aim my camera at the eagle, at which point the eagle panicked and started trying to get away from me as fast as it could, because---I can only assume, just like me, it didn't like having its picture taken. Sadly, in all the commotion, I wasn't able to get a good shot of the eagle, basically just a shot of its rear-end as it was flying away, not exactly the greatest portrait I've ever taken.
So, there you have it, my "I almost got eaten by an eagle" story. The moral of this story is, hm, watch out for predatory raptors when you clean your lens? I have no idea. I'm just happy to still be here. :)