No Excuse...

I have been fortunate so far this Fall to have come away with a lot of great photographic opportunities with the waterfowl that show up here on the island of Newfoundland. I have captured many images of various species surrounded in peak Autumn colors like the ones you see below:

But it was during one of my recent outings that got me thinking about fear and how we often use various excuses to not purse an idea or a concept or to even get up early in the morning to head out into the field. I had been showing a photography buddy of mine some of my fall waterfowl images and though he thought they were great he brought up a wonderful point that “yup, you have mastered that lighting setup..so whats next?”..basically pushing me to think further outside the box and like he suggested even trying some back lighting setups with the ducks. At first I replied well “I don’t have a location that I can pull off such a shooting angle”..But didn’t I?..After thinking about his suggestions it hit me..I do have a location..It was a spot I had not photographed at in years because frankly I just never liked what the location had to offer in terms of good shooting angles..but what I realized was that I was only looking at it from the perspective of shooting along the shoreline…What if I got into the water I thought?..My mind began to race of thoughts of what I might be able to achieve.

And so my pursuit has begun and while I have only had the chance to visit this location twice so far (and only one with really good shooting conditions) I have now come to realize the MASSIVE potential this location has. Here are a few pictures I have captured so far and one thing I want to point out as that out of the years I have been photographing Greater Scaup these are the first images I have been able to capture of them in beautiful Fall colors.

A close up of a male Tufted Duck

and here is a female Greater Scaup with a bit of back/side lighting which I think worked very well

But these opportunities have only come because I have pushed any fear I have of getting chest deep into water with my camera gear aside.

When I look back over my photography so many of my favorite images have only been possible because I have not let fear or any excuse hold me back from pushing myself further and further to get “The Shot”..

Here are a few examples for you…

A Red Fox at sunrise which was only made possible because I drove 2 hours in the dark out to Cape St.Mary’s Ecological Reserve when my inner voice was saying “Its too long of a drive and the light will probably never happen the way you want” or “what if the fox doesn’t show up it will have been for nothing”

Well it did happen and it did work out

For the image below the forecast called for -10 degrees Celsius and 70 km of wind. The type of weather you stay home in your nice warm bed but I didn’t. I pushed myself to embrace the nasty weather and head to a local lake in hopes of capturing portraits of Tufted Ducks as I anticipated the tuft on their heads to be blowing around in the wind. I came away with this unique image.

Here is another simple example of a Greater Yellowlegs which I capture in beautiful back lighting. Here I was lay face down in duck pop along the edge of a lake when this Greater Yellowlegs walked past me and into this beautiful light..but..in order to get the right angle I had to belly crawl out into the water which meant water slowly began to fill into my waders (since I was still laying down). I was soaking wet for the rest of the morning session..but again it was worth it and I wouldn’t have this shot if I had listened to that little voice saying..”oh the ground is too dirty and full of duck poop” or “Your going to be soaking wet if you crawl in deeper”.

I am sure all of you have heard that little voice inside your head..the one that tells you to stay in that comfortable warm bed when your alarm goes off at 5:00 am or the one that tells you that the idea you have isn’t worth the effort. I have come to realize that more often then not when you hear that voice it actually means you are on to something and that something great will likely come from not listening to the voice and to dive right in..even if it means laying in duck poop :)