I had never seen a bluebird hover before, but there it was in an extremely high wind, flying in place a couple meters off the ground hunting for food. I had stopped along the edge of a large meadow to shoot a lone bull elk lying in the grass when I noticed the bluebirds. Usually photographing birds mid flight is a challenge, even with auto focus, but this hovering habit made it easy. The real challenge was that I couldn't get any closer and the wind was blowing so hard it was difficult to hold the big lens steady. I ended up hanging my backpack on the tripod for extra ballast and pushed the exposure to shoot as fast as I could in the fading evening light. As I was editing the bluebird shots, I was frustrated to see how small the images were until I came upon the idea of compositing them into a single image. Not only did it fill frame with added interest, but because all views are from the exact same perspective, it enhances the feeling that this bird was hovering in place.
Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico. I wanted to try for a different view of the sandhill cranes as they flew into the big pond for the evening so I’d left the crowd of photographers and set up at a nearby trail where the birds would pass over an opening in the tree canopy. Well, it didn’t pan out and had gotten dark and I was about to leave when I spotted what I assumed was a coyote coming down the trail. But when I focused in I realized I was looking at a mountain lion. Incredible luck. There’s always talk about the lions at the refuge but the sightings are rare. And here I was, all alone, in the cover of my car with the camera all set up, as a big cat slowly headed straight towards me. It was one of those wonderful moments in the viewfinder that gets the adrenaline pumping. To add to that I was nervous - worried I would blow the shots; it was way dark, difficult to focus, and it was my first few days with a new camera and unfamiliar controls. As he neared, the cat graciously turned to give me some profile time before disappearing into the bush. I sat there for a while in the quiet of the night soaking it all in. Then I raised the windows so no one would hear my whooping it up and headed back to town.
