As you may have noticed, I changed the name of the blog series from “3 Hour Photo Trips” to “Wonderful Wild World.” I’m sure we will continue to take our 3 hour photo trips, but so very often, because of the blessed place we call home, it really is no trip at all – it’s literally right outside the back door. In any case, the original idea was to show everyone that you don’t have to go to Africa, Australia or some remote island to get amazing shots of amazing wildlife. You can literally step out in your own backyard, take a trip to a local park, or take that trip to Australia, and get some wonderful wildlife shots everywhere. If anyone is willing to pay the way, I’d love to go to Australia and photograph some amazing wildlife from “Down Under”, but until then, I’ll keep photographing what I can, where I can, and when I can.
Take the above for instance: what a beautiful group of Mallard ducks that made our pond their home for a little while. I love the grouping in the featured photo above, how they just lined up perfectly for a great shot. The three males staggered in perfect formation, and a female guide-on calling cadence as it were.
My second favorite Mallard shot, is the one where I captured two of them with their mouths open, just quacking along and having a great time. This time I was able to get three males and two females in the shot, which is probably why the males are quacking. I’m sure they are trying to get and keep the attention of the females. Hopefully our pond will become a seasonal home for all of these water fowl, and we certainly hope to see some nests and eggs as well, when the time is right.
Over this past weekend, we were taking some pictures of the kids, and Monica saw the Great Blue Heron at the other end of the pond. I didn’t have the 500 mm lens with me, as we were taking pictures of people and not wonderful wildlife. By the time I made it back to the house and swapped lenses, he had walked half way around the pond. So I managed to get a shot off from across the pond, but then decided I would walk around the other direction, and meet up with him on the other side. It worked, and I was able to get a couple of really good shots off. However, Herons that are inside parks are somewhat used to people walking around, Heron’s that land in the wild – not so much. I got a little too close and when I stepped out from behind a tree, he saw me and immediately leapt into the sky and took off. I was able to get a few in flight shots off, but unfortunately the open side of the pond, the direction he flew, was almost directly into the sun and made him more of a shadow than I would have wanted. I did get one shot off out of the bunch that came out pretty good, and I hope you enjoy.
In any case, it was a great time stalking the Mallards and the Blue Heron. Thanks go out to Monica for seeing the Heron to begin with and letting me know, or I would have missed him for sure. Don’t forget to hit the “Like” button below, hit the “Follow” button to make sure you don’t miss any photos, and by all means share my website with all of your friends.
Christmas is just around the corner, so if you’d like a print of any of my photos, let me know as soon as possible so I can make sure you get them in time. I hope you all enjoy the photos as much as we do taking them, and until next time, from my camera to yours, “Enjoy Our Wonderful World!”
RM Goldsmith Photography 