Shootin' Nature ...

The money shot!  Could I get a pic of
one of them mystery bipeds this clear?

     Howdy!  Any of y'all out there like shootin' nature?  Now, hold-on ... don't y'all go gettin' all excited; I ain't talkin' 'bout with guns, I'm talkin' bout shootin' nature with a camera.  I've mellowed in my old age, and the majority of my shootin' ... as far as nature goes, is done with a camera.  Don't get me wrong; I'm a carnivore; y'all remember, "vegetarian" is an old redneck word for a bad hunter!  However, unless I feel the need to harvest a deer, hogs, rabbits or some ducks ... I'd rather be shootin' my game with a digital.  Now, what's this got to do with sloughstalkin', "Bigfoot", Caddo critters, wild-men or wood apes?  Well, let me try to explain ...

     I'm not by any means a professional photographer, but I can say that I've got some pretty-dang awesome shots of critters and nature.  I go all Charlie Daniels-like on shootin' nature; remember the verse, "Things that crawl, things that fly and things creepin' 'round on the ground"?  Well, I like shootin' those kinds of things!  But the thing is, most of my better photos were just candid shots I took when I was out & about, fishin', hikin' or sloughstalkin'.  And I've noticed that when I've actually planned to get that perfect shot of this critter or that, maybe 25% of my shots are useable, and only 5% are the "money-shots".  Why?  'Cause it seems that when I'm really tryin' to get that perfect shot, nature's got a habit of ... well, bein' nature!

     For example, we've got a bunch of them pileated woodpeckers around our property, and in the past 15-years we've lived here ... I haven't been able to get a single quality shot of one.  You'd think I was tryin' to photograph the grail-bird ... which is the ivory-billed woodpecker.  I don't know what it is about me and them pileated woodpeckers, but either they get behind a part of the tree to where I cain't see 'em, there's too much foliage to where I cain't focus, or when do I see 'em up-close ... I don't have my friggin' camera handy!  So, is this startin' to sound familiar to any of my fellow "Bigfootologists" out there?


This was one of the locals I shot tryin' to swim to my boat.  The shot involved settin' my rod down, grabbin' my
camera, turnin' it on, focusin' and gettin' one shot clear enough to see its tongue flick.  This shot was pure luck!

     My son had his video camera that fateful mornin' back in Smith's Slough when we had Our Encounter.  The thing was ... that the foliage between us and it was just too dang thick for him to focus on much of anything.  Sure, he was only 13 at the time, but it wasn't as if he didn't know how to use his own video cam.  He had originally bought that camera two years prior so he could film his buddies and himself skateboardin'.  He's taken some amazin' footage of his friends as well as himself nailin' some very difficult tricks, sometimes even while ridin' on his own board as he filmed.  So why was it so difficult to get a shot of somethin' tall, dark & hairy walkin' around out there in them woods?

A pair of roseate spoonbills ... shot from my parent's back yard.

     I carry my camera on a chest-harness when I'm out there sloughstalkin'.  Whether I'm walkin' or kayakin' ... it's readily available.  But if I am ever blessed with another encounter, will I be able to get the "money shot"?  Who's to say this critter ain't goin' to be in a full sprint, or just movin' through thick foliage like the first time we seen it?  Will I even be able to get a clear shot, even if I can focus?  I imagine that I'd be pretty-dang rattled, and would have to do everything possible to steady the camera so the shot wouldn't be blurry from my (e)motions.  As an avid recurve bowhunter, over the years I eventually got over "buck fever".  But, would I be able to keep my composure in the event  that I'm blessed enough to have another glimpse of one of these critters?

This one was whisperin' to me, "Angelo ... the other white meat."

     Shootin' nature ain't that easy.  Even if a "Bigfoot" just walked towards me and stood there (which is highly friggin' unlikely) it's doubtful I'll have much time to get it on film.  It's like havin' a shotgun for home defense; I keep it handy, loaded and know how to use it.  And y'all remember ... rackin' a twelve-guage only let's the intruder know your position.  The only noise I ever wanna hafta make is clickin' the safety off and then, God forbid ... the discharge of buckshot.  So with that bein' said, fumblin' for my camera (even if it's on a harness), removin' the lens cap, turnin' it on, focusin', etc., all takes time, makes movement as well as some noise.  Actually bein' able to take shots that would be convincin', crisp and clear takes luck and lots of friggin' skill!

A blue tailed skink and a blue butterfly, both filmed in the Caddo Lake WMA.

     So just like huntin' with my recurve, I've been doin' lots of practicin'.  Well before each bow season ... I'd find a patch of woods (not in the area I was goin' to hunt) and practice my shootin' skills; I'd snap-shoot pinecones and stumps with judo-points.  Yeah, I've got a shootin' lane & targets in the back of our property, but that ain't nothin' compared to actually bein' out there in them woods ... stalkin' and shootin' at different things at various ranges.  So just as in traditional archery, I've been doin' the same kind of practice with my Canon SX50.  I've been scoutin' here and there, and shootin' nature as much as possible.  As an example I've included some of my better shots in this entry ...

A mating pair of bluebirds, scopin' out a nestin' site in our back yard.

     But as an example of the convolution of shootin' nature, I wanted to specifically tell y'all about this-here bluebird; it wasn't out in them woods, it was scopin'-out the birdhouse not 20-yards off our back porch.  Even though I'd been practicin' ... out of the 15 or 20 shots I took, only 5 were good, and only 1 was the "money shot"!  This is just another fine example showin' how shootin' nature ain't that easy.  So just like my sloughstalkin' ... I guess I'd better be spendin' more time in the grime ... tryin' to hone my skills and to figure it out.  But remember, just 'cause you practice ... practice don't always make perfect; 'cause sometimes shootin' nature all depends on the nature of the beast you're tryin' to shoot.  Y'all take care ...