Dream Trip 2009

Great Travel Moment

Nearly every evening on Laysan Island I devoted the last minutes of light to watching the birds. They shine with vibrant feathers during those minutes of gold before the sun sleeps. The sun was no longer illuminating us when this Great Frigate bird inspired me so unexpectedly. The moment was brief, but I released the shutter just as a male frigate opened his wings to the setting sun. At the time I was using a film camera, and so did not discover the image until months later. Magic recreated itself as the image appeared on the negative, but the elegance of bird wings against a dusk sky remained imprinted in my mind all the same. This image conveys a unique moment of wonder at the grace of wings silhouetted before the open horizon, a time when openness was all around me.