For the first week or so, cygnets only surface feed. They peck the grasses and anything that looks good floating. And when the adults dip, they hurriedly hover around to grab whatever gets dredged up from below. Like all of us, they learn from example and before long are dipping and diving for themselves. I’ve shot thousands of frames of ducks growing through this stage – the mother tilts straight down with her bum pointing up in the air and the chicks surround her in anticipation - but this was the first family of trumpeter swans I’d observed. So I immediately recognized the behavior but rather than a bum in the air there was the beautiful arch portal of the neck framing the cygnets in waiting. Nice.
Red wing blackbird
It seemed easy enough… I read about the new polar bear cub at the zoo and immediately decided to go while he was still in the “cute” stage. Didn’t know what to expect but figured it’d be relatively simple to get a few “aw” pictures. The only special game plan was to wait for a snow day. Perfect. A snowstorm arrived in a few days and as I worked my way through morning rush hour, clichés of “shooting fish in a barrel…” rang in my ears. Slightly mistaken. There were two viewing areas. One from behind a barrier and chain link fence – not gonna work. The second was a half-enclosed shelter with glass - but only five meters wide for an overflowing crowd of families. The challenge. - The glass was covered with condensation on both sides from all the warm bodies making it difficult to focus. - There were dozens of kids plastered against it scrambling for a view and parents with strollers packed in behind them. I didn’t want to hit anyone swinging around 20 pounds of camera nor get in the way of them enjoying the cub. - The storm brought a cold snap and I’m a wimp when it comes to numb fingers, metal objects, little buttons, and fingerless gloves. Eventually. I contorted myself into a corner and with the sounds of kids laughing and cheering at the baby bear’s antics, settled in for one of the more enjoyable shoots I’ve done. … Not as easy as planned but more fun than I expected.
