One of the things I love about Bosque del Apache and the Festival of the Cranes in November is the amazing New Mexico light. We did not get it this year. The skies were cloudy at best.  As I write this it is snowing. There was barely enough light on any day for photography. Still the birds are here. Time to get creative and push the technology to the limits.

Even a few years ago a shot like this…low light action at ISO 1600 and 1/320th of a second…would have been unthinkable with even the best full fledged DSLR cameras. Yesterday, an hour after sunrise with flakes of snow in the air, I was able to catch this Crane coming in to land with a small sensor super-zoom camera.  And I had a 12×8 inch print made on the demo Canon printer at the Festival that looks good enough to hang on the wall. Amazing!

And I like the shot. I like the forms and textures…the grace of the bird…the colors of the fall grains and mountains, even in the dull light. 

Canon SX50HS in Sports Mode. Exposure as above, at 1200mm equivalent field of view @ f6.3. Processed in Snapseed on the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014.

And for the Sunday Thought : the light is what it is, and no amount of wishing will change it. If you are a photographer you can pack your gear and wait for better light, or you can get out there and see what can be done with the light you have. You never know. Even at the edge of what your gear is capable of,  there might be a very special image waiting. And of course that is a great spiritual lesson as well. If you make the most of the light God gives you every day, you can expect blessings every day. That has been my experience often enough to provide a firm foundation for a life of faith. 🙂