Observation

"Holy F*@&!! There's a HUGE bird over there!!!" I had to shake my head as a group of teenagers in a car drove by... at least they noticed the heron. Two joggers had already run past and not noticed the large bird standing beside the path. Unperturbed by the people passing not more than 5 feet away the heron continued to stalk his intended meal of gopher. The joggers did manage to give me an odd look as I sat in the grass with my back against my car tire, camera in hand.

I am constantly amazed by what people don't seem to see when they are in Golden Gate Park. I've seen foxes run through a meadow while a group of people were playing volleyball, a coyote pouncing on gophers in the bison pen went unnoticed by at least 8 people watching the bison, red-tailed hawks have swooped within 10 feet of joggers wearing iPods and not one head turned...

For every 15 people who seem oblivious to what is in front of their eyes, I get a welcome surprise from someone who does notice. The family on their bikes stopped and watched for a few moments, then each of them pulled out their own small silver camera and began to take images. The youngest boy glanced over at me and saw how I was low to the ground... he bent down and took his shots from a nice low angle while his older brother and father took their shots from higher up. I had to grin to myself... perhaps that young man will become the Frans Lanting or Art Wolfe of his generation... all he has to do is keep on seeing what is in front of him. Here's hoping...