Eagle Rising

On Valentine's Day, 09, we decided to take a drive and see if we could get some photos. It was snowing hard, the wind was blowing.... We drove along the Missouri River and to our delight, the eagles were there along the river. Some of them were fishing, but most were sitting in trees. This eagle was on a rock outcropping, high above the road, sitting on a post. I had to walk up to him, and see how close I could get. This is the moment when he took to flight...

A few years ago, I met Sharon K Shubert in an online artist organization. We became friends. To make my story short, Sharon stepped into the world of digital art. I had a longing to see my photos used digitally, but I'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around digital computer programs! One day, I mentioned to Sharon, we should get together on this....then I won't have to learn this digital stuff.... We were off and running!

I sent Sharon the large, digital file, of "Eagle Rising", and she created "Twin Eagle Landing"! Neither one of us knew this, but the other one, had entered their image in the "I Love Bird's Group" on Red Bubble. And each image was featured!

Here's the award we received for our images. I think it was awesome fun the way this turned out. You can see more of our combined images on Red Bubble and soon to come...on Zazzle.

This is an exciting venture for both Sharon and I. It's like when 2+2 ='s 5! My camera and my eyes, plus Sharon's digital knowledge and her eyes, creating something better than the sum of the parts!

Donna Ridgway

Rising Eagle, photo of eagle.

For Valentine's Day, we went out on a photo shoot. It's our favorite thing to do, and you never know what you might find! As it happens, we saw this eagle on a knoll, sitting on a post. As I walked toward him, he shot me dirty looks, and when I was invading his personal space to closely, he stretched his wings for flight. Here he is, tippy talons on the post, one second before he flew away. These birds are incredibly huge when they stretch out like this. It was an awesome sight.
Donna Ridgway

More Montana photos.

A true harbinger of spring. When I was ranching, I loved grabbing one of these little guys to listen to them bawl lustily for their mom. They're very strong, you have your hands full when you get hold of them...you'd better be determined when you make the attempt.

Of course, when they beller, their mom is breathing snot down your neck. So you tag them and vaccinate them as fast as you can. One of my happy memories of spring....

We saw eagles circling and circling in the sky over a ridge. We stopped to see if we could tell what they were watching....no such luck. But while we sat there, this eagle got curious about us! He swooped down low and craned his neck toward us. This connection to a wild creature will stay with me for a long time, for as I looked up at him through my lens, he was looking down at me. This is why I'm so in love with my camera. Not only am I able to go out searching for these rare and unbelievable moments, but I can share them, and through my photos, you can put yourself in my place.... Now this eagle is looking down at you!

After the eagle looked us over, he soared away...his curiosity satisfied. He was so close, I was able to see his feet all tucked up under his belly.

Here are two versions of the same horse on a hill. This one far away and the lower one, a close up. I loved the rough pattern of the brush, the figure of the horse, then the blank slate of the sky.

In this photo, I concentrated more on the horse, the snow and the sky. I might crop the brush out and leave a blank surface before and after the horse. Those are decisions I can make as I go along.

Montana photos, wildlife, horses, scenery...
Donna and Robert Ridgway