
female Northern Cardinal captured by Z 9 / Z400f4.5 w/Z1.4x w/Profoto A10
It was a solid morning! There wasn’t a ton of captures compared to the potential but we had some quality time with a Virginia Rail, an elusive subject. By noon though, the rain had settled in and making things more of a downer, wind. With these conditions, bird activity comes to a near halt and that brings photography to an end. That means only one thing, ice cream time! After that break we came back to find the rain was still falling but the wind had died down. When we got a window we headed out to the boardwalk but the activity that late in the day had wound down. There were no clicks. Then as I was just leaving the boardwalk, one step from leaving it I saw this female Northern Cardinal taking a bath in the shower. Shooting through the canopy I made this simple click. The Profoto A10 popped in a touch of light bringing up the color, the rain and saturated light brought to life the spring greens and in a heartbeat, I had one click. And that’s all it takes to make it a successful outing as far as I am concerned. Yes, I would have loved lots of successful clicks but that wasn’t to be. That’s important to understand with wildlife photography because more times than not, I come back with nothing. That’s why I’ve come to learn and enjoy the fact a smile just takes one.