Wait For It

As many of you may have noticed and probably already know photographing wildlife takes a lot of patience. It also takes learning to watch and wait for the moment. Last Sunday I went to one of my favorite places to photograph Harbor Seals on the coast north of Ft. Bragg. I sat, watched and photographed them for a couple of hours while they slept on the rocks. After a while the incoming tide and the larger waves started washing them off of their haul out spot. They would get washed off and then have to climb back up onto the rocks and find a new spot to slumber. This is where anticipating the moment came into play. I prefocused my camera on one of the seals. After a wait of about five minutes a larger wave rolled in and I was able to capture an image of the seal trying to stay on the rock amidst the wave.It made for a great image. Anticipating the action works for smaller animals as well. This morning while photographing birds a Western Gray Squirrel stopped by for a snack of bird seed. I noticed that periodically it would stop feeding and put its paw up onto the mossy part of the stump and look my way. I prefocused my camera on this spot and I was ready when the squirrel looked my way again. A bit of observation and the patience to wait can go a long way towards creating some beautiful images of wildlife. God's tender love and mercies to all, chris #TeamCanon, #Bringit, #hqspanimals