They’re almost gone!

There was a time when I would get annoyed when people said “wow you got lucky” or “I bet your camera takes nice shots”. What I’ve come to realize is that you have to be good to be lucky. I’ve spend 40 plus hours in the woods and not seen my target animal. I’ve also just arrived at my cite and boom, even before I finish setting up they are right there. I’ve also been set up ready to go and still missed the shot.

At the time of writing this we recently moved to Maine and I became a stay at home dad. I’ve also taken this time to develop this website and to try and sell a few prints - which I have! It’s such a great feeling when someone you don’t know spends money on your photography! but that’s for another post. I’ve always enjoyed wildlife photography but haven’t had the means to do it since becoming a dad. This changed when we moved to Maine. We walk every morning after our little guy wakes up and believe it or not these osprey and just over a mile from out house!

So I got lucky, I had no idea they were this close to the house. As much as we walk there every day, I only have 15 minutes to sit and watch them - that’s about as long as our 5 month old will sit for before we need to head back. Some days we don’t see them at all and some days they put on a show for us flying around and bringing in fish. Some days we get down there early enough and the sun is behind us, some days it’s dark and overcast.

Not only do wildlife photographers need to get lucky to find their targets but they need to be good enough to no miss the moment. You may only get one chance to get their shot.