Scootching made this shot possible. It’s often the case when I wake in the morning that I’ll look out from the bedroom window and see a heron on the pond. And as much as I’d like to go out to shoot I know from multiple past experiences that it’s almost impossible to get out there close enough to get a shot without spooking them. But occasionally there are two herons, which means there’s a chance that something interesting can happen between them as they jockey around the pond for territorial position. And while they distract each other there’s a chance they might not notice a big guy with a huge lens sneaking towards them. There wasn’t time to change so I just donned my camo hat and went out in my pajamas. I sat on my butt behind the camera and scootched forward along the wet grass whenever they weren’t looking. It took me a half an hour to work my way down the exposed hillside to the edge of the pond - a distance of a mere 60 feet. I finally reached the cover of the tall grass along the pond edge and from that vantage caught this sequence of one heron crossing to get away from the other. Then again, perhaps it was the pajamas.
Sandhil cranes, Bosque del Apache, New Mexico.
This little guy bravely approached me as I floated nearby in the water to see what I was. He got a good look at what must have appeared to be a big black eyeball (my foot long, seven inch diameter telephoto lens) and turned back to report the news to mom.
