By Laura Bullock
This past weekend was my daughter’s last basketball game before heading off to college. She’s been playing ball for nearly her entire school career and I’ve been photographing her, and her teammates, every step of the way. My photography skills have improved over the years, and thanks to my thoughtful and generous husband, so have my cameras. I am blessed to own an amazing camera with an equally amazing lens that enables me to capture the game (sometimes) beautifully.
I’ve honed my indoor photography skills to the fast paced environment and the ever changing indoor lighting that can sometimes make me want to pull my hair out. It’s been a frustrating journey at times but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the challenge. But now I’ve reached an ending as I no longer have a child playing an indoor sport. As I took my very last photo of her on Sunday I wondered out loud to my husband, “What will I do with this camera now?” He thought a minute and said “Use it at Fawn Lake.”
So use it I did.
I was coming back from my walk by the lake and I could hear all this squawking and screeching from a bird. I knew from the sound that it was a Pileated Woodpecker and I figured that a squirrel or hawk was getting too close to its nest. Then out of the woods flew an owl with the woodpecker hot on his tail. The owl circled around and flew up into the tree near me. The woodpecker screeched a few more times, its mate joined in for a moment, and then they both flew off into the woods. Now first let me say I’ve been trying to capture that elusive woodpecker all summer and then to see two of them next to each other on the same branch? Jackpot.
Did I mention I left my camera at home today?!? Ugh.
I made a mark on the ground to indicate where the owl was, said a little prayer, and took off for home to grab my sports, I mean nature, camera. If I moved fast I could be back at that spot in 15 minutes. It was a gamble hoping the owl would still be sitting in that same tree and if he wasn’t I knew I’d never find him as he blended into his surroundings perfectly. So I grabbed my camera, scooted back as quick as I could, found my spot on the ground, looked up and…nothing. He wasn’t there. 9:00am, already 85 degrees with 100% humidity, carrying a 10lb camera in my arms all for nothing.
Or so I thought. He picked that exact moment to move and there he was – right where I had left him. Even when I knew where to look I still didn’t see him! Now to use my camera for a whole new purpose. He was a perfect subject and I think the two of us could have sat there all day. I took hundreds of photos, all with different settings and angles, trying to learn a new set of photography skills. I hope as time goes on my photos will improve and I that I get another chance to use him as a subject. Until then I hope you enjoy what I’ve captured.
Now if I could just find those woodpeckers…
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