Wings of Change · Limited Edition Fine Photography

I was sitting on a hilltop in Gokarna one morning, coffee in hand, watching the Arabian Sea move. It felt like the earth was breathing, slowly, without urgency, and I was breathing with it.

There was a lot of green around me. Then, at the edge of it, a few white birds landed in the branches. I had my camera. I also had the problem of them refusing to stay still long enough for me to set it.

So I stopped trying to catch them perched and decided to catch them moving instead. It was my first attempt at that kind of shot. I adjusted my settings, steadied myself, and waited.

I finally saw what I had caught, a White-bellied Sea Eagle, mid-flight, wings fully open, in the exact second between one place and the next. I had to look it up to name it. But I knew what it was before I found the words.

On a larger screen it gave me a feeling I didn't expect. Not wonder exactly. More like relief. The particular joy of watching something move through the world with nothing holding it back.

This photograph exists in an edition of 15. Not because editions are expected, but because some moments deserve to live in only a few rooms.