Twilight Geese

A flock of geese floating on Lake Natoma at Sunset

black and white image of geese floating on lake natoma

My student was meeting me in less than an hour for a lesson at Lake Natoma and I hadn’t packed up my gear. As I stuffed my bag with my color camera, I picked up my monochrome camera and wondered if I should bring it? I wasn’t going to be there shooting for myself. I was giving a private lesson, and I generally don’t take personal photos while teaching.

I met up with my student in Historic Folsom and we headed down toward the lake. It was getting close to dusk and the summer air was still hot and oppressive. As usual in the summer months, a line of cars stretched down the street waiting for the lights in town to change.

Nearing the lake, we could see kayakers, paddle boarders, and kids gathering underneath the Rainbow Bridge with intent to jump into the lake below.

The best place to get a good sunset composition of the bridge and the water were on some large outcroppings. With some careful descending down rock-laden dirt paths, we made it to the rock and took in the scene.

A group of paddle-boarders slid noiselessly through the water past where we stood and continued down the canyon. A woman and her two daughters floated nearby on blow-up rings one might buy at Walmart. They laughed and enjoyed themselves and they asked us if they were going to ruin our shots. I told them to just enjoy themselves and we would shoot around them (or edit them out entirely later if necessary).

I had my student setup her tripod a few feet behind where we stood so that she could get a better view of the water, bridge and surrounding rocks. As she stepped away, I noticed a group of geese in the water. And as the sun was setting, a large sunspot appeared on the surface of the water just a few feet away from the geese.

An Opportunity for a wonderful photo Arises

I set down my backpack, unzipped it and reached in to grab the monochrome that I had decided to bring. The sun dipped below the roadway section of the bridge, but I if it continued its descent toward the horizon, it should appear between the bridge pillars.

Sitting on the rock to stabilize my body, I set the aperture to f/11 and put the focus spot dead center on the brightest part of the water. The geese began to swim through the sun spot. All I needed was the sun to breakthrough the pillars and I would have the shot.

The geese had began to break up and swim in different directions. I snapped away to get them on the water irregardless if the sun cooperated or not. I had to get something, even if it wasn’t what I had originally intended.

There it was. The sun began to peak underneath the roadway and between the pillars. It was at this moment that my student asked me a question.

I was there for her, not for me to get the perfect silhouette shot. So I turned and answered her question and made sure she was satisfied with the answer before I turned back around.

The group of geese had broken into two smaller groups and the second set of geese floated through the spotlight. I pressed the shutter button and kept firing away until the last goose had moved out of the light.

Away the camera went into my bag as I returned to teaching duty. We ended up having a great lesson and my student took some incredible photos. I even stole a composition from her and took a couple of color pics of it with my other camera.

I didn’t expect to get any pictures for myself at the beginning of the lesson but I’m glad I packed my monochrome camera because I love this picture. It was one of my favorites at the time and it still is many months later.