Michael Mroczek

Bald Eagle

As a surprise for Father’s day, Victoria purchased the Fujifilm XF150-600mm lens for me. For the last couple of weeks I’ve been learning how to use this super telephoto lens. It has quite the learning curve, but I’ve been slowly getting used to it. With two little ones in the house (kids, not lenses) and an excessive heat wave affecting the Mid-Atlantic region, I haven’t had as much time as I would like to play with my new lens. I’ve been utilizing the spare fifteen minutes that pop up here and there.

We happened to be playing outside with the girls on a Monday evening when I noticed a large bird slowly descending towards a pitch pine on the other side of the lake. At first I thought it was a turkey vulture, but quickly noticed the bright white head and tail to be one of the Bald Eagles that live near our home. At a distance of around 700ft (measured on Google maps) I was unsure as to how close I would be able to get with my new superzoom. I figured I’d give it a go and ran inside to attach lens to camera. I then waited for the lens to fog over as they often do when moving from the air conditioning to the humid outdoors which is normal for this time of year.

Bald Eagle in a pitch pine tree from across the lake. Photographed with the Fujifilm XF150-600mm.

I was pleasantly surprised with how much of the eagle I could get in the frame considering how far away it was. I made a few images, mostly playing around with framing to create some interest. I often default to placing my subjects in the middle of the frame, and I’m trying to work on that.

While standing on the dock, a female red-winged blackbird landed in the reeds at the water’s edge. Significantly closer than the eagle, I raised the camera and lens to my eye, and made a few photos of that bird as well. I’ve been documenting these birds in particular so these will be a nice addition to my collection.

Red-Winged blackbird, female, in the reeds by the water. Photographed with the Fujifilm XF150-600mm.

Rewiring My Photographic Brain

I can’t lie, I almost didn’t make these images on this particular evening. My first thought when watching the eagle land in the tree was “oh, that’s too far away, why bother”. At times, my brain is stuck In this mindset of making impressive singular images to post on social media, where all you have is 2-3 seconds to grab someone’s attention.

So much of photographic storytelling is about context and narrative, and yes one image can definitely tell a story on its own. There are plenty of examples of that throughout the history of the medium. But I’m  telling a greater story with my images, using multiple photos to form a larger body of work. A portfolio, book, or even a zine… who knows.

I try to remind myself the important this is to just do the work. Pick up the camera, write the words, or turn on the printer. The results will come in time. Just press the shutter and take the photo and write the next few sentences in my photographic story. The reality is I probably won’t be posting on social media in fifty years, but I will have these photos that tell the story of my life.