Joanna Steidle
Hamptons Drone Art, LLC
Motherhood II
The Motherhood Series consists of drone photographs of a bottlenose dolphin and her calf displaying the intimate and important message of parenthood. As a single mother of two young men, I can identify with this mother’s instincts to protect, guide, nourish and teach her young the ways of the world, all while letting them go enough to experience failures so they learn to rise above them. After all life is so much about the many obstacles we must overcome. The mother calf duo is a masterclass in survival, communication, and culture, with the mother as both bodyguard and professor.
After five full days of searching the North Atlantic Ocean and coming up empty, a pod of dolphins came into my view late one August afternoon, and I had 2 1/2 minutes to capture these before the pod reached beyond visual line of sight. The conditions were perfect, and I was blessed.
The way the calf’s shadow falls on the mother’s womb where it once resided touches my heart strings and represents the forever place in a parent’s heart, all while constantly keeping an eye on the little one guiding it with her pectoral fin.
Please note this photograph is heavily cropped to maintain a safe respectable distance from these gorgeous creatures. Taken just off the coast of Southampton, NY, USA.
