My three as I learn more about shooting critters!
Eye contact is the key I figured out.
That\'s why the young elk\'s eyes are bugging out when he realized I wasn\'t a tree!
Western Diamondback in Arizona:
I had been 4-wheeling around with my friend all day in the superstition mountains. All the time joking about finding a giant rattlesnake. Because I\'d never seen a large one before. We stopped for a break, and as I was admiring a big cottonwood tree I happened to look down at my feet... Well, I got my wish! And haven\'t moved that fast in years!!
Young Elk in Utah:
I had discovered a spot this summer that was inhabited by a herd of elk. Way up in the mountains. So I was trying to figure out how to photograph them. There was a valley they were fond of, so I positioned myself way up on a ridgeline. I then stood behind a large aspen tree trunk and waited. In about an hour a mother and this young one came cautiously out of the woods. The mother stayed by the trees, but for an unknown reason this baby walked directly along the ridge toward me. And kept getting closer and closer. When he was around 10 feet away I started clicking away. And that\'s when the elk\'s eyes bugged out!
River Otter in the Colorado River.
The population is unknown in the river they are so rare. Estimates are around 100 or maybe 150 total. When I first spotted them I thought they were Canadian geese laying on the ice. Then I figured out they were otters. So for the next two days I did my best photographing them. And then, suddenly, they all juped into the icy water and swam away. Never to be seen again.
(Can\'t figure out if he\'s curious about me, or looking at himself in the lens!)
