The Best Shots Are the Ones You Never Plan
I love wildlife photography. It’s completely unscripted. You never know what, if anything, you’ll see when you head out into the field.
Sure, it can be boring. It can be uncomfortable. People often ask why I do it instead of photographing weddings or shooting portraits.
My stock answer is simple: wildlife doesn’t care if it looks fat or has a pimple. It just is.
But really, it’s more than that.
Wildlife photography is about capturing those moments when something completely unexpected happens.
This is one of my favorite photographs. It would never make the cut for a gallery show, and it probably wouldn’t earn a spot framed on my wall. Technically, it’s far from perfect. But despite all its flaws, it’s a fun image, and it captures exactly what I’m trying to say.
This is the day I was photobombed by a Great Blue Heron.
I never even saw it coming.
I was concentrating on the landscape: the lush green vegetation, the reflections on the water, and the peaceful scene in front of me. Then, just as I pressed the shutter, out of nowhere came this enormous bird!
I confess, it startled me so badly that my heart nearly climbed into my throat.
But look at the result.
If that’s not a perfect photobomb, I don’t know what is.
It was completely unplanned, a total surprise, and one of those moments you couldn’t recreate if you tried.
You can’t buy moments like that.
And that’s exactly why I love wildlife photography.
