CAMPFIRE CHAT
Part of the adventure of wildlife photography is the fact that every day in the woods is an adventure. You never know what will find it's way into your lens and make a memorable moment. I was on the pond behind my house in a blind that I had made several years earlier. It consisted of camo cloth hung by velcro on a makeshift frame of pvc pipe. I had been photographing wood ducks and egrets the previous day and was anticipating getting some usable photographs. It had been running historical 100 degree plus temperatures for several days but had dropped to around 96, making it a little more pleasant to be out. My youngest son had called and I was returning his call. All of a sudden this kingfisher showed up and dove into the water right in front of me for his evening meal. I was upset with myself that I had missed the photographic opportunity but the bird landed in a nearby tree apparently to digest his catch. About 30 minutes later he lands in front of me on a fallen tree that extended out into the pond. I noticed that he had this fish in his mouth and though he was some 30 yards in front of me I proceeded to get what shots I could. I knew the results would be less than desirable at that distance. He continued to position the fish in his mouth to make it possible to swallow it whole. When he got it into this final position before tossing the fish lenth-wise into his throat, I snapped the photograph. I wondered what, if anything, went through a fish's mind at this moment. The look on his face seemed to desire a final negotiation. Anyway, this made for a unique photograph and completed one more day in the life of a wildlife photographer.
