Thursday, August 23, 2012

My First Wildlife Photo Shoot

The last few days I've driven home at sunset and thought how beautiful the area around my house is.  Today I got home a little earlier than usual so I grabbed my camera and headed down to the pond to try to take pictures of the ducks.  What I thought was going to be a 15 minute outing quickly turned into an hour long venture as I played peek-a-boo with four families of forest friends.  Once a upon a time ago I wanted to be a photographer for National Geographic but I don't think I'll be pursuing that dream just yet.  Wildlife photography is a lot harder than it looks.  Over the course of this hour I learned that (1) a telephoto lens is really hard to balance in low light, and (2) animals don't like to sit still while you fiddle with settings.  I also learned that muskrats are evil creatures but more on that later. I had just about finished attempting to focus on moving ducks when a small buck and doe walked out to the edge of the pond.  Of course by that time it was dark enough and far enough that very few of my pictures came out. A muskrat has taken up residence in the pond and taunted me by submerging just as I focused a frame and finally reappearing at the exact spot I was sitting as I headed home.  Out of 99 pictures I ended up with 12 keepers.  I was so frustrated especially because I had so many good frames that didn't come out in focus.  Even though I managed to shoot my first deer (and it's bigger than my brother's first), I plan on going back soon when there's a little more light, and maybe a box to hold my camera steady.

Sunset
The Ducks
My First Buck
Little Buck and a Little Doe
I really wanted a close up of a froggie but I couldn't hold the camera still enough
The Pond




2 comments:

  1. Very nice... love those last light of the day times.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Hogga! I don't have the resolve for sunrise so sunset is definitely more my speed.

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