Behind the Lens: Stories from My Wildlife Photography Adventures

Hello Everyone,

What a week it’s been I haven’t been feeling my best. As you may know I have multiple sclerosis and every 6 months I get an infusion medication to help with my MS symptoms. Typically, towards the last month of my medication running its course I start feeling my pains. Next week is my infusion and I been struggling just to get to it for sure. This week I took my son and went on a hike through one of my favorite wildlife sanctuaries near my house. I have had so much luck in this trail running into stunning wildlife from eagles to red foxes I always know a special moment will happen here. I consider my style of wildlife photography as freestyle photography. Why freestyle? well most photographers that do wildlife photography typically set up a blind and hide in plain sight to get there stunning shots. I love to go out and let the moments happen for themself. I have had so many serene moments while out exploring. My son has been enjoying going out with me and witnessing the wildlife for himself. He is curious about all this animals we encounter he usually ask what bird i’m capturing or what kind of bug is that. Sometimes I don’t have all the answers but is a learning experience for the both of us when we get home and do our research about what animal or bug that was we saw. A lot of research goes into wildlife photography and I love it. I love learning and experiencing nature as is suppose to be experience. I love when you are just following a trail and you hear a sound that catches your attention and when you look an animal you never seen is a couple feet away from you. Is a feeling I can’t explain and is one of the main reasons I love wildlife photography so much.

This photo was taken Sunday morning I was following the usual trail and as I was walking I was feeling good about the photos I was capturing. At the beginning of this trail I had a serene moment with an Eastern Gray Squirrel which was eating a nut it had found on the floor. A beautiful moment that I was able to capture so well I was feeling good about that photo to start off the day. I walk a bit further down the trail though and wasn’t seeing anything that was catching my eye. I been a bit more picky about the photos I am choosing to capture as I want the best quality photos to show all of you. My son and I walked for quite some time before I ran into a beautiful cardinal that was perched on a tree branch towards the end of the trail. We had already walked for about 3 miles without really seeing anything and since we were at the end we decided to turn back. This cardinal turn out to be my good luck charm as after seeing this beautiful bird my luck started to change. Shortly after We were walking around a big shrub and I heard what sounded like a tree branch snap. I turn towards the sound and 2 white-tailed deer were starring at me. Aware of our presence and being silent and vigilant as possible. They kept their eyes on us and I slowly pull up my camera making sure not to make any movements that would scare them away. I started trying to frame my photo but there were too many sticks on the way. So I started slowly moving around the scrub and I told my son to be as quiet as possible. It was at this moment that I position myself and frame my photo and capture this beautiful photo. So what settings allowed me to capture this photo? Well this photo was capture with my 100-400mm at 286mm. I set my ISO to 400 my aperture was set at f/5 and my shutter speed was 1/640s. I like to incorporate a lot of the landscape around the subjects to show the environment so having a lens that can cover such a versatile amount of range is a must for me. After this encounter we ran into another squirrel and a couple birds. We saw a chipmunk as unfortunately was unable to capture a good photo of it. I have yet to capture a good photo of a chipmunk it’s been on my bucket list. After this we ran into a couple of lizards and a turtle. We were surprise to see this turtle as it was hidden in the middle of some greens. I finish my day capturing a couple more birds. I later made plans to go photograph my brother in laws car as I want to start building my car portfolio. Results to that will be up on my website sometime this week.

I been thinking about starting to post 2 blogs per week. I will maybe try to next week as I will have time due to my infusion. I have been thinking of launching a couple of clothing design with my pictures on them. I been trying to try and grow my presence online and been having some positive feedback so far. I been putting a lot of time and effort to bringing the best that I can. I shoot everything on a canon m50 mark ii and been saving up any little bit of money I can to upgrade my camera. Cameras aren’t cheap and lenses are even more expensive but I know if I want to support my family with my photography I know I have to save up and invest into this business to eventually get to a point were my family and I can be at a comfortable spot. I want to start product photography but have been putting it to the side because I do not have the money to invest in lights and materials to do so. Photography is an expensive passion so please understand when a photographer charges you a lot for photos is not because they want to overcharge but is because there is a lot of expenses that go into having the best gear to deliver incredible results. From equipment to software there’s a lot that goes into this and that’s why you see the prices you see when trying to hire a photographer. I will probably be doing another blog later this week as I want to share a couple more photos with you all. Until then I hope everyone has a great week!