Photo: Headless

Location:  Colonial Beach, VA

Date:  October 8, 2018

Camera & Lens:  Canon 6D mkii and 24-70mm lens

About This Photo:  I post my photos at many sites, you can find where from this blog or my main website, I’m not difficult to find.  While I was living on Fort Belvoir, some folks about two hours down the road in Colonial Beach, Virginia reached out to me on Instagram asking if I’d come to Colonial Beach and take some shots of their town.  My wife and I decided to drop in on our way back from visiting friends in Norfolk.  This was October, not much happening, it reminded me of Italy the way everything shuts down for winter by the end of September.  In the same way, you could sense that this little town on the Potomac River gets busy in the summer and I’d love to check it out during the summer if I’m ever back in the area.  

Before leaving, I consulted my good friend Google Images to see what was already online and the plan was to shoot nothing I found there.  I usually do this so my photos, fingers crossed, don’t blend in but stand out.  Once we arrived, our girls just ran to the beach which was cool as I was free to shoot.  I immediately noticed swans, and there was one in particular that was swimming the water’s edge.  When he came out, I carefully approached as to not scare him/her (not sure what this bird identifies as…), and the swan started grooming and I just happened to get a shot with its head tucked on the other side of the body.  The result was the photo at the top, Headless; it came out kind of cool as the shutter clicked just at the right time.  It was a fun little stop on our way home, I took a couple of other photos that came out decent (below).  Thanks to the people at Colonial Beach for asking me to come down!    

A swan swimming near the sand at Colonial Beach, Virginia.

Birds sitting on posts near the shores of Colonial Beach, Virginia.

Piers leading from homes to the Potomac Rive in Colonial Beach, VA.