Shunbun no Hi: Swan Lake

This year's Shunbun no Hi post is over a week late which is terribly remiss of me, especially since, just the day before equinox, I was literally stopped in my tracks by a scene of extraordinary natural beauty.

Cycling home from university, I took a different route than usual – one which took me by the lakes (the same lakes where I photographed cormorants). It was a cold, cloudless night. The light from the buildings on the other shore were reflected in the dark water, as was the near-full moon, shining brightly above the buildings. Close to the near shore, three swans slept, gently drifting with their heads tucked under their wings.

I got off my bike and drank in the scene. I also took a photo, but it doesn't come close to capturing what I saw. The moon was too high to fit in the frame (its reflection is barely visible below the nearest swan), two of the swans had woken up, and I was carrying a film camera which, as much as I love it, cannot compete with my DSLR when it comes to low-light photography. Nevertheless...