Why I Shoot Wildlife

Here’s one you wildlife photographers might find interesting; It sure got me excited. I had packed up my photo gear and was leaving Everglades NP for the day when I spotted this scene – a mother anhinga had just returned to her nest of 3 chicks. The chicks were pretty excited too. They began to jockey for position and stretching to reach mom. The poor little guy on the left side of the nest almost spilled out. I assume they thought they were about to get a meal but mom seemed to need some time for herself. She perched about 10′ above the nest, spread her wings to dry, and proceeded to ignore the chicks. I watched for about 30 minutes until the chicks settled down and apparently went to sleep.

The light was pretty bad and getting worse so I fired off a few shots to capture the moment; the birds were in shadow with the sun setting behind them toward the left. Also, as you can see, the background was very busy making it impossible to isolate the birds. Had it not been a 2.5 hour drive, I would have returned the next morning when the family would have been perfectly illuminated in the morning light.

One of the reasons I photograph wildlife is that I enjoy experiencing creatures like these in their natural habitat going about their daily routine. This was a great example. Even though this is not technically a great photograph, it was a great moment in time and I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to capture it. I hope you enjoy it too: