I Name My First Photo And Other Things

I have taken more pictures than I can count. I mean I have to be pushing close to a million photos over the years. I know you don't see that many but trust me I have taken them. This last trip up to Crater Lake I took some really nice shots, many that I am proud of. But there is one photo that has me thinking it worthy of a name. Let me give you a little back story. I had stopped at one of the turnouts along the rim of the lake, and as normal people aproch me with questions and coments. They see that I am not looking at the lake or photographing Wizard Island, I'm looking over the edge and along the wall, and they ask "What are you taking pictures of?" My normal response is "I'm looking for a picture and if I see one I'll take it." So that was what was going on I had sparked a conversation with a couple and we spoke for about 10 minutes. They asked a lot of questions about the lake and I gave them as much info as I had. While I was talking to them there was a couple with their teenaged daughter reading one of the signs on the rock wall. As the couple I was talking with left for another part of the park I returned to my task of looking for that picture. Then I saw a Clarks Nutcracker fly into a dead tree.

I love photographing these birds, they are not camera shy at all and will give me some pretty good looks. There was a least 30 people standing on the wall many of them having their lunch or a snack that were alone. As I watched the bird it flew right to the info sign that the family was reading. It landed on the right side of the sign and gave the softest cooing sound I have ever heard a bird do. It was like it was speaking to the young girl. She tilted her head and looked at the bird as if she understood it, and from somewhere she pulled out a pice of some snack that I hadn't seen and with a smooth movement held it up to the bird. I have seen these guys take food from people many times. It happens eveytime I am up there. I have seen them take peoples food as well. Like when a man sat his apple down to take a photo of a chipmunk.

They are never so gentle as this Nutcracker was. It reached out so gentle and slow, it didn't grab the food it caressed it from her fingers. The only word that decribes the scene is "Elegance" and that is what I am naming this photograph.

The bird sat there long enough to eat its food, wiped its beak on the sign, then gave another soft coo and flew away. I knew I had taken a photo that was speical. I pulled it up into the view finder and showed it to the girl. She liked it, I wish I would of gotten some contact info from her parents so I could send her a copy of it. Maybe I'll get lucky and someone will share it with them. Either way I have the photo and I'm proud of it. I have many more photos to share and of corse I found me another Bear, this one isn't as big as the last one and it wasn't a close call on my part. I did stop a car so the Bear could cross the road though and there were a few people that stopped to see it walking along the road. (more on that in a minute). I didn't get any reall good shots, but a few okay ones will work.

The next day I am chating with a couple and we are swapping stories about what we have seen, when the lady says how they were able to see a Bear cross the road yesterday afternoon (Yesterday as in when the story was being told) and I asked her where it had taken place. When she told me I asked her if she had seen a guy with a big white lens and held up my camera. Her eyes lit up "That was you" and as we talked I found them both to be really nice people. They are most likely to see this post as we friended each other on facebook and I post the link to my blog there. So if you are reading this, it was great to meet you and hopefully we can meet up on another adventure some day... and may there be Bears there as well! I will be working up some more photos to share with the Rangers up there and then I will post some of the cutest photos of the trip. That should be in the next few days, so keep a lookout for it.