Bald Eagle on Hornby Island

As wildlife photographers, many of us dream of the perfect photo of a bald eagle, zoomed in, perfectly in focus, and the award winning shot. It’s an ideal to aim for, and one day it will happen. Unfortunately, photography has become all about the gear, the most expensive, the fastest, the best, the biggest longest lens. Hey, I LOVE gear, and want all the great gear money can buy one day. But what if your budget does not allow for that 400 mm or a 600 or an 800 mm wildlife lens?

Remember why you started photography in the first place. You love it!

Sometimes we don’t get the “perfect” shot, but we are having a good time, just being outdoors, walking, exploring, and then we get to experience the moments that we come upon wildlife that take your breath away, even if only just for that small magic moment of a close encounter. You know what I mean. We are in awe, when we get to be close to the birds and animals of the wild.

So on this day, on Hornby Island, this bald eagle was just right above my head. Bald eagles always take my breath away. Always. I have a deep connection to these beautiful and powerful, amazing animals. These photos are good, but not great, not perfectly in focus, they are good, but not award winning, even kind of artsy-fartsy.

AND, I LOVE them. These photographs give me the memory of being there again in that moment, the feeling comes back of being there in the moment with this incredible bird.

THAT, is good enough for me. So next time you are wishing for better, bigger and faster gear, remember why you are into photography. And be grateful that as wildlife photographers, we have been given talents and gifts to see things in a different way from other people, and we have been given the gift of being in the right place at the right time, to capture wildlife, that most people only ever get to see in a magazine.

I LOVE photography! I LOVE the outdoors and nature.

Gratitude. THAT, is good enough for me today.

~ Brenda Johima ~

P.S. I had a “professional” photographer rip these photos to shreds and tell me everything that was wrong with them. DUH. Do you think I don’t know? Sometimes photography is just about having FUN, for personal enjoyment, and we don’t always have the “perfect” gear out when we are going for a walk, and it is (for me) just satisfying to have got something, rather than nothing at all, to remember a great day, a great day. Perfect photos? Nope. And as long as this snobbery (I call it that) continues in the pro photography community, we will stop the passion and joy of photography for many people. Thank Goodness I know better than to listen to him. This isn’t for pay, it’s not for a client, it’s not even to make a print of, it’s just for me. And it’s good enough for JOY 🙂  … Joy? She doesn’t care if you are perfect, she just cares that you get out there, get outdoors, enjoy a walk and a hike, and experience the JOY of photography first. So how’s that for a rant?

Copyright 2010 Brenda Johima