Every year, like clockwork around the first day of summer, a flock of Cedar Waxwings descends on the serviceberry trees at a local park, gradually stripping them clean over the course of several days. It’s a joy to watch—berries plucked with precision and gulped down whole, one after the other.
On this particular morning, I followed a Waxwing working the outer branches of one of the trees. The scene was somewhat backlit, so I exposed for the bird, which in turn overexposed the sky. As it reached for a berry, wings fully outstretched, the bird was set against a clean, high-key background—an effect that brought clarity and focus to the composition, and signaled a grand entrance to summer. Photo taken with a Nikon Z8 and Nikkor 500mm f/5.6 PF ED VR lens, 1/1600, ISO 1800, f/5.6, +1.7EV.