2105_2640 American Avocet
With landscape elements like this - blue water, white alkaline deposits - and warm morning light, any bird would look great. That most of the birds present were American Avocets put it over the top for me, and I ended up working this relatively small area for a couple of hours (with one 15-minute break in the car to warm up, as the morning was much colder than it looks).
This pond is part of a larger wetland area along the margins of Chaplin Lake, which forms critical habitat for migratory birds. The saline waters produce huge numbers of brine shrimp, which in turn feed countless shorebirds, waterfowl, gulls, and other migratory species en route to their breeding grounds.
These avocets were easy to photograph, as they quickly accepted my presence while I alternately sat and lay flat in a not-too-damp spot near the shore. Part of success in wildlife photography - or any photography - is recognizing when you're onto something good. This may seem obvious, but it isn't always so. For years I watched my students misjudge a situation and spend too much time in an unproductive location or walk away from some fantastic light because they didn't see its potential. There is no substitute for experience, but sometimes a little nudge or hint from a good instructor can serve as a useful guideline.
The other side of that - and the difficulty in teaching any of the visual arts - lies in not wanting to interfere with real creativity. It's good to experiment with unpromising materials, and it's good to fail, because that's how we learn. Years ago, someone asked me, "How do you teach photography? CAN you teach photography?" My answer was, "I don't know." I can certainly teach exposure and depth of field and how to behave around wildlife and being aware of the light. The creative part? That is our personal journey. We do that part alone.
Photographed at Chaplin Lake, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2021 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
2105_2640 American Avocet
With landscape elements like this - blue water, white alkaline deposits - and warm morning light, any bird would look great. That most of the birds present were American Avocets put it over the top for me, and I ended up working this relatively small area for a couple of hours (with one 15-minute break in the car to warm up, as the morning was much colder than it looks).
This pond is part of a larger wetland area along the margins of Chaplin Lake, which forms critical habitat for migratory birds. The saline waters produce huge numbers of brine shrimp, which in turn feed countless shorebirds, waterfowl, gulls, and other migratory species en route to their breeding grounds.
These avocets were easy to photograph, as they quickly accepted my presence while I alternately sat and lay flat in a not-too-damp spot near the shore. Part of success in wildlife photography - or any photography - is recognizing when you're onto something good. This may seem obvious, but it isn't always so. For years I watched my students misjudge a situation and spend too much time in an unproductive location or walk away from some fantastic light because they didn't see its potential. There is no substitute for experience, but sometimes a little nudge or hint from a good instructor can serve as a useful guideline.
The other side of that - and the difficulty in teaching any of the visual arts - lies in not wanting to interfere with real creativity. It's good to experiment with unpromising materials, and it's good to fail, because that's how we learn. Years ago, someone asked me, "How do you teach photography? CAN you teach photography?" My answer was, "I don't know." I can certainly teach exposure and depth of field and how to behave around wildlife and being aware of the light. The creative part? That is our personal journey. We do that part alone.
Photographed at Chaplin Lake, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2021 James R. Page - all rights reserved.