By Ted Grussing
… I took this shot of a great blue heron a few days ago down at the ponds … it was a beautiful image but it needed a little quiet time added to the image … so we now have this amazing creature gliding over a mystic pond, approaching the shoreline and preparing for a landing where he will take up his post hunting for fish that swim close to shore. Thanks to Arizona Game and Fish there is a continuous buffet of tasty fish to dine on. Thousands upon thousands of fish are stocked in each pond … most of them end up in streams, rivers and lakes and they will be the fittest who survive life in the ponds, while the less fit end up as food for a plethora of predators such as our heron friend. The days and weeks roll by and daily some survive and some do not and in the end we all leave … in the interim, there is life to be lived, beauty to be found and shared … kindness to be experienced and passed on.
When Henry Luce purchased Life magazine in 1936 he had a vision for the magazine which was:
“To see life; to see the world; to eyewitness great events; to watch the faces of the poor and the gestures of the proud; to see strange things — machines, armies, multitudes, shadows in the jungle and on the moon; to see man’s work — his paintings, towers and discoveries; to see things thousands of miles away, things hidden behind walls and within rooms, things dangerous to come to; the women that men love and many children; to see and take pleasure in seeing; to see and be amazed; to see and be instructed..”
The story of Life is a fascinating read and you can find it at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_(magazine) The magazine was first published on January 4th 1883, 137 years ago.
I had a beautiful flight this evening … it was quiet, cloudy and the sky was void of other aircraft … I turned the engine off about seven miles out and returning to Sedona, I quietly slipped through the sky and landed as silently as the heron in this photo.
Have a joyful day and anticipate that good things will happen … smile … we are here and alive!
Cheer
Ted
At early morn, refreshed I rose again
To see yet more of all this wondrous life.
— Max Ehrmann
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The easiest way to reach Mr. Grussing is by email: ted@tedgrussing.com
In addition to sales of photographs already taken Ted does special shoots for patrons on request and also does air-to-air photography for those who want photographs of their airplanes in flight. All special photographic sessions are billed on an hourly basis.
Ted also does one-on-one workshops for those interested in learning the techniques he uses. By special arrangement Ted will do one-on-one aerial photography workshops which will include actual photo sessions in the air.
More about Ted Grussing …