The Lesser Pain

(December 4th) For a wildlife photographer I think there are two kinds of pain. The first is when you see a great subject but you know you can't make a picture because of light/position/lens/etc. The second of pain is when the light is perfect but for the life of you, you can't find a subject. The second is definitely the worse kind. With the first, at least you can enjoy the subject even if there is no image to record it. Today was filled with this kind of pain. I went to Estero Llano Grande State Park, a place I had never been before. The weather called for temperatures in the 30s and constant rain. So I spent all day freezing with virtually no light. It feels like that's kind of been the story of this whole trip. This park is a series of trails around ponds. The ponds were full of ducks, grebes, and other water birds. I wanted the greater reach of shooting DX, so shot most of the day with the D300 instead of the D700. Big mistake. One thing I learned from reviewing the folders later is that the D700 dealt much better with the terrible light than the D300. I guess it was a good day to learn that lesson. Perhaps there's nothing worse than bad light on water - it makes the water look so ugly. It was hard to find any shot that I'd not mind sharing from today, but this Neotropic Cormorant is an example of a shot that would have had potential in decent light.

Estero Llano really was a great place. If I get the chance again, I definitely want to go back there. Also in retrospect I have a few ideas about how to make photographing in such conditions a lot better. In any case it was fun and I saw some great animals. The place even has some Nutria. I'll leave you with one more photo from my visit, that of a Mottled Duck. They may not be the most colorful of ducks, but still a fine bird.