Carolina Wild Photo (the blog)

Before February closed out, in the midst of freezing temps and snow, I had a couple of days break with good weather. I took advantage of it by heading out to the N.C. coast on a day trip hoping to photograph some ducks. The morning was overcast, as was early afternoon, but about 2 p.m. the clouds blew away for almost 3 hours of light. The ducks weren’t coming as close as I had hoped, so I didn’t get any close-up portraits, but I did get a few passable flight shots, which was what I was after anyway.

I had to shoot these standing in salt water up to my waist. I was wearing insulated chest waders, and warm clothes, so I was plenty warm despite the cold water and wind. The only real issue with shooting in salt water is having to disassemble, rinse, clean, lubricate and reassemble the tripod afterwards. But that’s a part of the job with wildlife photography.  (continue reading…)

In the dead of winter, when you would think there is not a lot of “pretty” to be seen… or photographed… we have ducks, and geese, and swans. Of the lot, ducks are my favorites. They’re not only fun to watch, but the brightly colored drakes are a pleasure to see. Even the more “drab” brownish females have a simple beauty of their own. They don’t have to be dressed for Mardi Gras to have eye appeal.

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As a continuation of my recent marathon weekend post, I’d like to focus individually on the two locations from the trip that produced some great photos. In this “part two” installment, I will highlight Cambridge, Massachusetts. The location is along the Choptank River in a quiet old neighborhood near the downtown. The locals began feeding ducks that stopped over on their migration, and ever since ducks have taken advantage of the free corn they have come to expect at this one magic spot. In fact, photographing ducks here is akin to “shooting ducks in a barrel”, to quote a recognizable phrase.
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