Moose Peterson

The winds are kicking up and there is a chill in the air, a storm is coming. The afternoon light flickers bright to dim as the first clouds block the sun, racing east with the wind. The moments of sunshine get less and less as more and more clouds join the parade. The light changes from mellow to dramatic. I grab the camera and truck keys and make a dash down to the flats. This is not the first time, I’ve done it so much in fact that with the wind and light I know exactly where I want to be to shoot, so I step on the gas. Within a couple of minutes I’m in place and admiring the big battleships of gray ready to dump their load of snow on our home. A break comes in the clouds, the light comes streaming in as the camera goes click. It’s the perfect end to a fun chase.

Filing the frame with the critter isn’t required for great wildlife photography. Reflecting on how I first slanted my wildlife photography in this direction, it has its roots in the first lens I had to shoot wildlife. I started with a Vivitar 400mm f/5.6 on an old Minolta that was soon replaced with a Nikon 400mm f/5.6 on an F2. That 400mm was my main lens for a long time and it taught me lessons about wildlife photography that I still depend on to this day.