Inside the Photo #26

Talking with Jacqueline Schletter

Hey there! Glad to see you here again! I hope you're having a lovely summer (or winter, depending on where you are 😊). As usual, the first thought is for all of you who subscribed to my newsletter or support it by reading the articles on my blog. Thanks for the motivation you give to me.

So, my guest for July's edition of Inside the Photo is an amazing nature photographer. She's Jacqueline and here is a bit more about her.

Photography has been a lifelong love fostered from a young age; after almost 20 years in veterinary medicine I began once again pursuing my love of photography as a means to create nature based art and raise awareness of our vanishing natural world. I also lead photography workshops as well as providing individual mentoring for other enthusiastic photographers.

I tell you one thing: when I need to relax or to connect a little more with Nature, her images are just the right touch of joy. She delivers pictures of outstanding quality and can always represent the best of this beautiful world we live in. I love watching her images because they show places and wildlife I will probably never see in real life. And she does this in a way that captures me every single time. In a world of doom scrolling, I realize that her shots always make me stop and admire.

© Jacqueline Schletter

Generally I gravitate to creating artsy, painterly photographs, work that makes viewers second guess the medium. This morning however presented a situation that evoked a range of emotions, and no need to process the image other than for the low light it was shot in.

I live in South Carolina's "lowcountry", a beautiful, very natural part of the United States. The landscape here is coastal islands and salt marshes that serve as a nursery for a large variety of marine life. We're also blessed to live on the Atlantic flyway so I see a wide range of bird species during the migratory season as well as enjoying our year round residents.

A little background on the Bald Eagle. In the US, the Bald Eagle is our national bird and a conservation success story. They are a large raptor, standing 27-37 inches in height with a wingspan of 70-90 inches. They were placed on the endangered species list in 1978, and due to changes like the discontinuation of pesticides like DDT, they were removed from this list in 2007. They remain a protected species as they are vulnerable to environmental disturbance.

This image depicts one such environmental disturbance and its unintended consequence to eagles and other birds that frequent water based environments. This private dock is a perfect place for this eagle to perch and search for prey. In fact, not pictured in the image is a juvenile eagle that was flying along with this adult. The younger bird did not want to land as it seemed unsure as to how to navigate the string deterrent.

These strings are a common installation on docks to deter flocking birds like seagulls that tend to gather in great numbers and leave behind a lot of waste. Unfortunately, this eagle also had to try to navigate the strings. Its large talons were catching on the strings but it was determined to find a way to perch. It kept lifting its feet and flapping its wings and eventually settled on standing on a couple of the strings. I was relieved to see no injury and the bird eventually left.

This was a happy outcome, but many birds get stuck in these strings and suffer broken wings and lacerations, or they can end up so entangled they perish. As we humans continue to encroach and develop the land that was the domain of wildlife, we must do better to live in harmony with the natural world.

This is an outstanding image. And it raises high the message we must take care of the world we've been lent and do all we can to preserve nature and the delicate balance that rules our home. I'm sure you want to see more from Jacqueline, so here are her social links. Check them out and follow her!

Website
Instagram

Thank you so much for sharing this image and for reminding us we need to preserve our planet.

Take care and talk soon!