Wildlife Photography

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING POST INCLUDES A GRAPHIC PHOTO

As I approach my golden years (wait a minute, if you are already 58 years old, does that mean you are already IN your golden years?), I am always looking for other hobbies, otherwise known as side hustles, to supplement my income as a healthcare worker.

One particular hobby that has recently piqued my curiosity is photography. Especially capturing wild life in it’s natural habitat. To capture majestic animals in their own environment, interacting with other animals, reminds us that we have an incumbent responsibility to treat our surroundings with the utmost respect in order to preserve these precious animals. Year after year, invaluable tracts of land have become inhabitable due to deforestation, urban planning, pollution, etc. It is a sad situation we are in and unfortunately will only get worse in the future. We must protect these habitats at all cost to ensure that we can continue to co-exist with God’s creatures and continue to appreciate them every single waking day.

Therefore, I feel that by pursuing photography, I am promoting this cause to ensure that we all become better at recognizing and protecting our environments – we owe it to future generations. I am lucky because I have the luxury of being able to capture wildlife scenes in our backyard, right from the comfort of our dining room. Just this morning, as I looked out our French Doors onto our back deck, I saw something that was just incredible – the early morning sun was casting brilliant light, almost like a spotlight, on a scene that is truly representative of what wildlife is all about. Unfiltered. Unadulterated. Unbelievable.

While I hurriedly pulled out my Android to capture this pristeen scene, I thought that I had perhaps missed the shot – ugh! But alas, it seemed like the perpetrator(s) were in no particular hurry to finish up. In fact, it almost looked like the one squirrel was enjoying the moment and seemed to smile for the pic. This was no scaredy squirrel. But then again, this could have just been my imagination.

When I informed my wife, who was in the adjoining kitchen at the time, to look out the window to see what I was seeing, she instantly scolded me for taking a picture….as if it was an invasion of their privacy.

But like most good photographers, I got the shot. And this became my story of the day. Without it, you may not have believed my tale about a squirrel getting some tail, but then again, a picture is worth a 1000 words. You’re welcome.

As always, thanks for reading!