It's Not About Likes, but Enjoying a Moment

Grey Heron Landing: Milnerton Lagoon / Woodbridge Island

Many of you may have seen this image of the Grey Heron landing (walking) quite a few times.

Over the course of 15 years he has accumulated more than a million Likes and many, many Comments from all over the connected world.

The (personal) contribution I want to make to the developing photographer is that it is not always about the Likes when making an image – it’s not about the stimulus and response in terms of take image (stimulus) and get rewarded via Likes (response) i.e. perceived beauty or quality of an image etc.

What matters is what happens in the moment you take the image, your own satisfaction (as an impermanent and special moment) captured with purpose with your camera / phone. The (existential) story that an image portray (and sharing) is in my opinion more important than the Likes. Although Likes are generous attempts to support your image-making – and I suppose most photographers will experience gratitude in receiving Likes and Comments. I’m not saying Likes / Comments are not required / or not necessary. What I am saying - is that Likes should not be the primary objective.

Also, the camera / lens you use is not always that important. The image of the grey heron was captured 15 years ago with an entry-level DSLR and a 1st generation 70-300mm lens. What counted in my favour was that I happened to look behind me and saw the bird. At that very moment I was only zoomed to 167mm, but I took the image. The image is not of any high resolution or quality, but it did not matter. I enjoyed the moment and after a few weeks published it online.

The response was overwhelming – what I enjoyed most was all the comments from all over the world. It’s still getting responses in Likes and Comments and I’m grateful for it. But it was not about chasing Likes, it was published as purpose for existential freedom (the bird) and impermanence of the frame (bird or you will be gone in a minute or so) with old-school authenticity of a minimalist approach of editing and change.

Bottom-line is that you do not have to own the latest gear to tell your story through image-making. It’s about your enjoyment, purpose and interconnectedness with light and nature to name a few soul-satisfying values when you're enjoying the moment(s).

© Vernon Chalmers Image and Content Copyright Vernon Chalmers Photography

Grey Heron Landing: Milnerton Lagoon / Woodbridge Island

A Symbolic Essay on Arrival, Solitude, and the Poetics of Place

There is a moment - quiet, deliberate, and almost imperceptible - when the grey heron descends toward the water. Its wings, wide and slow, carve the air with intention. Its gaze remains fixed, not on conquest, but on communion. This moment, suspended between flight and rest, becomes a metaphor for the human condition: the tension between movement and meaning, between searching and arriving.

At Milnerton Lagoon, where the Atlantic whispers against the shore and Woodbridge Island stands sentinel to both sea and suburb, the heron’s landing is not merely biological - it is existential. It is here, in this liminal space, that the heron becomes more than bird. It becomes symbol.

The Heron as Archetype

The grey heron, solitary and poised, evokes the archetype of the reflective wanderer. It does not flock, nor does it rush. Its presence is a study in patience, a living embodiment of mindfulness. In psychoeducational terms, the heron mirrors the individual in recovery - returning to the self after turbulence, choosing stillness over reaction, observation over impulse.

Its landing is not dramatic. It is precise. This precision speaks to the therapeutic act of grounding—of touching down into one’s body, one’s story, one’s truth. The heron does not land to escape the sky; it lands to engage the earth.

Lagoon as Mirror, Island as Boundary

Milnerton Lagoon, with its shifting tides and reflective surface, becomes a mirror to the psyche. It holds memory, distortion, and clarity in equal measure. The heron’s reflection - sometimes whole, sometimes fractured - reminds us that identity is fluid, shaped by light, angle, and depth.

Woodbridge Island, meanwhile, offers a paradox. It is connected yet apart. Accessible yet isolated. It becomes a metaphor for relational boundaries: the need to be near without being consumed, to be seen without being defined. The heron lands here not to claim territory, but to inhabit a threshold.

Symbolic Landing as Existential Arrival

To land is to arrive. But arrival, in existential terms, is not geographic—it is emotional, spiritual, and symbolic. The heron’s descent marks a transition: from doing to being, from flight to presence. It invites us to consider our own landings. Where do we touch down when we seek meaning? What surfaces do we trust to hold our weight?

In therapeutic practice, this motif can guide reflection. The heron becomes a prompt: What am I landing into? What am I leaving behind? What posture do I assume when I arrive? These questions, gentle yet profound, open pathways to healing.

Closing Reflection

Grey Heron Landing: Milnerton Lagoon / Woodbridge Island is not just a scene—it is a symbol. It is the choreography of solitude, the poetics of place, and the quiet triumph of arrival. For the photographer, it is a moment to capture. For the educator, a metaphor to teach. For the seeker, a mirror to gaze into.

And for all of us, it is a reminder: that even in flight, we are always approaching something. And when we land—if we land with grace—we become part of the landscape that holds us." (Microsoft Copilot)

What is Existential Photography?

Vernon Chalmers Existential Photography

Image: Grey Heron at Milnerton Lagoon / Woodbridge Island

Copyright: Vernon Chalmers Photography