Today was a very long day for me, and I found myself struggling with the topic for my daily blog. My life right now has me constantly on the go, so if an opportunity arises, I jump on it as fast as possible. This becomes very real in my life as a photographer. Like before when I spoke about capturing the moment, sometimes that means jumping right on an opportunity and that is exactly what I did this afternoon.
After an hour long drive home from work I found myself exhausted and looking forward to the fact that I had a case of Oreos in my room. When I arrived home I came to find my sister franticly running around the kitchen trying to get out some sort of gibberish. I was finally able to make out what she was trying to tell me. Apparently Dad was mowing out back when three baby bunnies sprinted out from the yard and on to our back patio to take cover. They were hiding behind numerous tomato plants we had potted on the back step. We all raced to the back patio through the side garage door to see them trembling, scared for their little lives. We also have a beagle…so we had to make sure she was secured far away from any doors or windows, or she might have helped herself to a second course. Anyway, after standing out there for about a minute, adoring these little fur balls, I realized I had to take advantage of this awesome moment.
I ran upstairs and quickly switched out my lenses and darted back outside! Now you’re probably wondering, what sort of tips or advice am I going to get from this?? Well I have to tell you, the first time I ever came across an opportunity like this, I waited too long, and lost the opportunity to shoot something so spectacular. The next time I was given an opportunity like this, I was quick enough to grab my camera, but then became too cautious when it came to capturing the subject. Since then I have realized, it’s all about seizing the moment and capturing that very moment very carefully, but also as fast as you can.
As soon as I returned outside with my camera on and focused, I crouched down on the ground and got about one foot away from each bunny. By then I was taking one shot right after another, because I didn’t want to miss a thing. Once you are able to capture a secure amount of photographs, start to tone it down a little and focus more on the details. By this time, I slowly got level with the ground and crept a bit closer to a particular rabbit. This rabbit had the best stance out of all three. I was able to get a photograph that showed off it’s sweet eyes, the rich color in its fur and the statuesque stance it was holding.
After that last photograph, things got a little messy. One rabbit ran away, the other ran into our house, and the last one we found to be injured with a sprained foot. By the way if you ever come across an injured animal from the wild, do your best to get it to a wildlife rehabilitation center. That’s exactly what we did and those people are great for all that they do. Well I know I rambled on a lot, but did you take something from my exhilarating afternoon? Always seize the opportunity to capture something beautiful, especially if that opportunity doesn’t come around very often!
“Junior Cotton Tail” 6-9-16