Albatross Over British Columbia Tidal Inlet

Bright midmorning sunlight floods the surface of a tidal inlet in British Columbia, illuminating the expansive white wings of an albatross in flight. The bird dominates the foreground, viewed from behind as it glides low over the dark, rippling water. Massive, dramatic clouds stack high in the sky, their undersides shadowed against the intense tropical-like brightness of the midsummer sun. The texture of the ocean shifts from deep indigo in the troughs to shimmering silver where the light strikes the waves. A distant shoreline of dense green forest marks the edge of the inlet, at the base of the scene in the specific coastal biome of the Pacific Northwest. The bird's feathers appear crisp and layered against the vast, open sky. One shadow falls across the water below the wingtip.