My Journey to Being a Wildlife Photographer

As far back as I can remember animals have held me in awe. If I read a book as a child (that wasn't assigned) it was about animals, fiction non-fiction it didn't matter. There was one book my Father gave me named "Hornadays American Natural History" That was my bible. I spent hours apon hours reading and re-reading that book. I no longer have that book and the only copy I can find is a paper back, I'd rather go without than have that book in paper back. I was also a hunter when I was younger, I hunted with a bow. I was pretty good but as time went on I hunted less and less. Not because I was aginst hunting, I just didn't have time. I am still not aginst hunting, in fact I am all for it. its a good way to keep populations in check, plus the meat is way better for you than what you get in a store. I'll take an Elk steak over a beef steak any time. I don't because I don't have a place for the meat to be stored. I can track animals and find them with surprising ease, I have studied them for so long I know what to look for and where to look. Now does that mean that I can just go out and find what ever I want when ever I want? The answer is a very loud NO! It took me over Four years to find a single Moose. I wasn't looking in the wrong place at the wrong time of the year, I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I did find Moose this year in the same places I was looking for them in the years past. Photography; I started messing with cameras back in the early 2000's. I bought this REALLY cheap Panasonic pocket camera and a One GB memory card. I took a lot of photos with that camera and I'm not sure I have any of them still but I have been looking for them. I then moved to a Kodak pocket camera it was red and looked cool. It was jus as bad as the Panasonic. The photos were crap (I loved them). I just wasn't getting close enogh for my liking. Thats when I picked up my first "Real" camera. It was a Canon Rebal XS, It came with Two lenes one was a 55mm and the other was a 75-300mm lens. They are what is called a "Kit lens" as you buy the whole kit together. I had that camera for years, in fact I just got rid of it last Christmas and it is now in the hands of a friendand her family. I replaced that camera a few years ago with the Canon T7i and I paired it with a sigma 150-600mm lens. Thats when my photography reall took off. Then 2020 came and with it the pandemic. I was lucky in that I didn't get sick, I didn't lose any time from work and in fact I worked like crazy for the first 5 months. I was putting in up to 80 per week. So when things started to calm down I desided that I would grab my camera and head to Yellowstone. That was either the best or the worst decision I ever made. I haven't put down a camera since. I have upgraded my camera a couple more times and now I pack not only the T7i but the Canon 90D and the Canon R7. I'm still using the 150-600mm lens as my main lens but I keep a 400mm on the 90D and a 70-300mm on the T7i. Will I ever stop taking wildlife photos? Maybe but it will be when I can no longer run the shutter. I have a goal, a goal I will never achieve but I'm okay with that. Photographing every type of wildlife in North America isn't something a man can do in a life time and I started this journey way to late in my life to complete it. Besides its not completing it I am after, its the road.

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