Throughout my career and certainly during the first portion of my career, the people I have worked with would likely agree that a commonly used adjective to describe me would not be “patient”. It’s likely that my children and some of my friends would join my former coworkers in a chorus of laughter if someone attempted to apply that term to me. When I started making forays into the woods and fields with a camera and really working on my skills there was some self evaluation that came with it.
If you open up Google and type in “Attributes of a good wildlife photographer”, you’ll get the following response from Google A.I. “They must be patient, observant, and possess a deep passion for wildlife and nature.” Right out of the gate, it seems as though I had what it took as far as being observant and having a deep passion for wildlife and nature. My career had taught me to be observant and tuned that to a very high level. Since I was a child bringing lighting bugs inside the house in a jar and watching chipmunks in our campsite with my brother wildlife and nature have been passions. But patience? I’ll just say that after reflection I recognize there is room to grow in this regard.
Large animals like the ones pictured above are striking and usually draw a great deal of attention. They are fairly easy to spot, fairly easy to get good quality images of and every now and then produce some striking images. But what about an animal like the birds in the first gallery that are three to five inches long, have unbelievable camouflage, and often move like they are on their twelfth cup of coffee in less than an hour? Now there is a challenge. As I have previously written about, I have physical limitations that make challenges like triathlon and charging through the woods on my mountain bike like I used to enjoy unrealistic right now. So, noting that patience is clearly something I’ve needed to work on…challenge accepted.
My strategy previously had been to hike and seek the wildlife. When I found it, I would loiter and photograph until I felt that I had either adequately captured the moment, or the wildlife tired of me and disappeared. Now I have modified that. I carry a camp stool with me as I hike and when I find the wildlife or a likely spot, I stop, sit, wait and watch in silence. It has proven to be a real challenge for me, but incredibly rewarding as I have, on occasion been able to capture images of these tiny, quick and elusive creatures. It requires a great deal on concentration over time as well as I found out. If my mind wanders, if I set the camera down, stretch etc. that is precisely the time nature will decide to reveal itself.
So, what have I learned? I learned that there is growth for me in sitting still. Very still. I can work on something I’ve needed to for some time while pursuing a passion and hopefully capturing images of some of the most beautiful and difficult to see little creatures that I can subsequently share with others. I’ll never grow tired of the excitement of being in the presence of and taking pictures of nature’s larger creatures I’m certain of that. But I’m also certain that nature has yet again (once I paid attention) taught me a lesson.
A quick somber note before I close. There have been two first responder suicides in the area where I live in the last couple of months. The strain on the members of our military and on our first responders is very real. If you are a member of the military, a veteran or a first responder, take care of yourself and your mental health needs. If you are not, please provide your prayers and friendship to those who are.
Tallahassee Democrat link:https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/local/2025/11/24/tallahassee-police-department-mourns-after-officers-death-suicide/87449108007/?gnt-cfr=1&gca-cat=p&gca-uir=false&gca-epti=z118854p119850c119850d00—-v118854&gca-ft=28&gca-ds=sophi
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