Feeding the Birds in Nassau, Bahamas
While we were wandering the streets of Nassau, Bahamas, as part of our Disney Cruise this past summer, I thought it might be interesting to get a few “human interest” type of photographs from some of the places we were walking past. I’m not the kind to go get in someone’s face for a photo, but if the scene looks interesting from where I am, I’ll photograph it.
As we were walking along, we came to a small park of some sort, or maybe more of a plaza, I guess. And across the way, this man was sitting on the bench by his bicycle, eating his lunch. And I imagine he was giving a little to the birds as well, judging by how many of them were flocking around him. If that wasn’t interesting enough, his bright blue bicycle really jumped out against the green benches and coral building in the background, and that amazing tree right behind him tied it all together. I suppose there is really nothing profound about this photo. Just a man feeding the birds in Nassau. Probably happens every day, but I liked it.
Of course, it does remind me of the birdwoman in Mary Poppins, the subject of the song “Feed the Birds.” This man wasn’t calling out to everyone else to feed the birds or trying to sell food for others to feed the birds for tuppence a bag. Julie Andrews wasn’t singing just out of camera range. And there weren’t saints and apostles looking down from a nearby cathedral, either. Once again, just a man on a bench feeding the birds. But it was very much like that great moment from that great movie.
Once we were back on the ship, I completely forgot about all of this, rushing around to do the next fun thing and take the next great cruise photo. And even when looking back through the photos after we returned, I just passed right over this one each time, not noticing it at all. But then one day recently my screensaver on my computer was running through random photos from that trip, and this one came on the screen. It stayed there for just a few seconds before it was gone, but it lasted long enough for me to see it. Which is rare, because if I am around the computer it is usually being used for something, and I don’t often see the screensaver. But I quickly made a mental note of this photo, because I liked it. And then I forgot about it again.
A few days later, I was looking for photos to edit, and I vaguely remembered seeing one from Nassau that I thought would be good. And after clicking through several of the photos, I once again found this one. And now I’m glad I did.
Some days, it seems that it would be nice to be in a subtropical climate, riding my bicycle around and stopping to feed some birds. Maybe not as idyllic as it sounds, but I would be willing to give it a try.
“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” - Matthew 6:26
About the Photo
While the previous photo I posted was a multiple exposure HDR that took a bit of time to process, I have mainly been trying to speed things up just a bit. This photo used a quick preset in Adobe Camera Raw that did most everything for me, including setting the color, reducing the noise, adding a bit of sharpening, turning down the highlights, turning up the shadows, and adjusting the saturation and vibrancy just a bit. If you’re interested, let me know and I might put out some of my presets for Adobe Camera Raw and Adobe Lightroom if anyone wants to use them. Because like the subject of this photo, sometimes simpler is better.
Photo: A single RAW exposure, processed in Photoshop. Read more about the photo software and gear I use at the camera gear page.
Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M10
Lens: Olympus M.Zukio 25mm f1.8
Date: June 2, 2015
Location: Nassau, Bahamas
