Why Some People Should Not be Allowed to Own Cameras

The heron looks right.

The heron looks left.

The heron ponders the meaning of "ice-out".

As you regular readers know, this past Summer I purchased a gee-whiz, big zoom (18x), point and shoot camera with the intention of becoming Americas next great wildlife photographer.  Sort of a later day Thoreau.   Then again Thoreau didn't take pictures; he just sat around in the woods but let's leave that aside for the time being.  Anyway, I've tried to become a decent photographer but with little success.  In fairness to myself I have to say that the animals are really difficult models, never sitting still, showing up at odd hours, striking bizarre poses and often lurking just out of camera range.  If the animals were fashion models, they'd be out of work.  (Or maybe not.  My description sounds a lot like a fashion model now that I think about it.)  Today was another example of the frustrations I've faced in my quest for wildlife photography stardom.  Late this afternoon a beautiful Great Blue Heron swooped into the yard and settled on the banks of the pond.  There are two or three feet of open water along the near bank, and he immediately set up his still life fishing vigil while I scrambled to get the camera set up.  The photos above are the result. (If you click on a photo it will enlarge and you can actually see the heron among the bush stalks.)   I never did see if he caught any fish.  We've seen some of the minnows stirring in the shallows lately, so there were fish to be had.   Despite the challenges I've faced getting good wildlife photos, I'm going to stick with it.  After all, I've pretty much mastered just sitting in the woods and relish mastering this new skill.   As long as it doesn't interfere with lunch that is.