“To see a World in a Grain of Sand and a Heaven in a Wild Flower, Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand and Eternity in an hour.”
— William Blake
The Quiet Witness, Carmel Valley, CA, 2009
There’s a moment in nature when silence feels alive, charged with memory, anticipation, and grace. These images of white egrets on top of trees in Carmel Valley capture precisely that kind of stillness, the kind that breathes between heartbeats, between seasons, between knowing and not knowing.
Bathed in a golden, timeworn light, the images feel almost like a memory unearthed rather than a photograph made. The egrets, poised delicately atop a tangle of branches, become both sentinel and symbol. They survey a world wrapped in quiet uncertainty, where the air is heavy with what might come next. There’s tension here, but it’s a gentle kind, the kind born of patience and trust in nature’s rhythm.
The tones (sepia, ochre, muted green) suggest age and permanence, as if the images were pulled from an ancient journal or dream. This aesthetic choice transforms a fleeting moment into something eternal. This treatment of light and texture gives the photographs a painterly patina, blurring the boundary between photography and memory, reality and reverie.
Compositionally, the egrets stand as solitary figures against a softly turbulent backdrop. The surrounding foliage curves upward, echoing its slender form, while the sky, textured, mottled, almost tactile, acts as both veil and stage. The balance of light and shadow draws the eye not just to the bird, but to the space around it, the air, the silence, the unseen forces that hold it all together. This is a hallmark of my storytelling: the world within the frame always feels larger than what’s visible.
Grace Among the Branches, Carmel Valley, CA, 2009
Emotionally, the images evoke contemplation and longing. It’s not just a study of an egret; it’s a meditation on solitude, on being present amid impermanence. The birds’ posture, elevated yet unguarded, mirrors our own quiet moments of watchfulness, those rare pauses when we feel both small and infinite. It reminds us that stillness can be powerful, and that patience can be a form of grace.
There’s also a quiet symbolism at play. The egret, often associated with purity, resilience, and transformation, becomes an emblem of endurance in a weathered world. Its white plumage glows softly against the earth-toned backdrop, suggesting hope and renewal even within decay. Nature, here, is not merely observed. It is felt, remembered, and revered.
In the end, Stillness Before the Storm is less about the bird itself and more about what it awakens in us: that longing to pause, to listen, to see beyond the immediate. It’s a visual whisper reminding us that beauty doesn’t always announce itself—it often waits quietly, suspended in a moment just like this one.
Artist’s Statement
In these images, I wanted to capture more than an egret perched on a branch. I wanted to express the quiet weight of a moment suspended in time. The scene unfolded in Carmel Valley, a place where the air itself seems to remember. The birds’ stillness felt profound, as if they were guarding the threshold between one world and another.
I’m drawn to images that live in ambiguity, where beauty is touched by melancholy and silence holds meaning. The textured light, muted palette, and atmospheric tones reflect how I experienced that moment: not as a literal scene, but as a memory, fragile, fleeting, yet deeply alive.
For me, art begins where words fall short. These photographs is about presence, patience, and the enduring poetry of nature’s smallest gestures. It’s an invitation to slow down and listen to the quiet places within ourselves.