A New Beginning
Since taking up wildlife photography as a passion of mine, I have felt different. It is hard to explain but I will try.
Over the last 4.5 years I have been constantly looking for that thing to keep me busy. Prior to COVID-19, my passion was video games but once COVID hit, for whatever reason, I simply stopped and never looked back.
From there, I took on two new hobbies, camping and hunting. While I still find joy in camping, I now have a desire to simply use it as an enabler to allow me closer to nature and capture great photographs.
Rocky Mountains, Outside Boulder CO. iPhone 14 Pro Max
Hunting on the other hand, has kept me going the last few years - I was constantly seeking, learning & pushing myself. However, it seems I was never satisfied with my results. I had plenty of opportunities to shoot deer but every time, I passed, always giving myself some, in my head, legitimate excuse as to why. In reality, I simply enjoyed being in the woods, being close to wildlife and watching them in their natural habitat.
Now, as I said earlier, I have felt different the last few months and I think I am starting to understand why. With wildlife photography, I still have the passion to get out there and be with nature but I have zero expectations and feel that others have zero expectations of me, in a good way. This is a very liberating feeling, especially as someone who has felt I had to always prove my worth.
Perhaps a bit too personal, but anyone in my shoes knows, needing to always prove your worth is exhausting. The constant ebb and flow of life and wondering am I good enough can be quite the struggle - which is even peculiar to me, considering my personal and professional success.
A spider’s dew… Fujifilm X-S20, ISO 1250, 600mm, f5.6
Now, with wildlife photography, it seems all of that worry is somehow gone.
Life has slowed down and I am able to simply enjoy each day as it comes and goes. Observing life, observing nature, seems to have calmed my day to day.
I have new routines, where I fill our bird feeders in the morning along with rambles looking for critters to takes photographs of - daydream of trips to Yellowstone or Glacier, hoping to capture special moments. My worries are no longer about myself but whether or not the grape jelly will bring in an Oriole today.
Perhaps it’s wildlife photography that has enabled this, perhaps it is something else, regardless, I am a big fan here for it!
Thanks for reading, until next time.
-Nathan