A so so photograph, but interesting story
As some of you know, each Friday I organize a small photography shoot by three ponds that are next to the building where I work. Although small, there is a good deal of wildlife here and it is interesting to see how the area changes as the seasons go by.
This isn’t a particularly interesting picture of a millipede. I have much better millipede shots and it was one of a handful of shots I got that day. This particular millipede is quite small and I had placed it on some moss nearby for a more interesting shot.
However, the story behind the shot is a bit more interesting.
After noticing some birds at the site the last time I went out, I decided to show up armed with my 100-400. I approached the nearest lake quietly and took out my 100-400 along with my tripod and stood there checking out what was around.
The birds did not disappoint. Within moments a gorgeous great heron flew over the pond a few feet from me. The moment was too brief and I did not have my camera turned on at the time. However, I followed the bird with my eyes and noticed that it landed at the next pond over.
Eager to get a good shot of the heron, I took off for the pond. However, once I got there I did not see the heron and only found a few ducks on the opposite side of the pond. I took a few shots of the ducks, which I deleted when I came home as they were truly awful. The thought then occurred to me – perhaps the heron was at the third pond?
Between the two ponds was a thicket of thorns that did not look too appealing, but I was eager to get the shot. After navigating a number of thorns it looked like the only thing between me and the second lake was a large clearing. I started through the clearing and quickly noticed that the whole area was flooded.
While carefully trying to navigate the flooded area through brush that had fallen on top of it, my feet got stuck deep in the mud. Had I been in normal clothes I probably wouldn’t have minded it. However this was the middle of the work day and I had on dress casual clothes and my best shoes!
I managed to get myself unstuck and while trying to get back to the place I started at I got stuck in the thorns. They scraped me neck and ripped my hands quite well – such that I had scratches and blood all over them. Pissed off, I gave up on the lakes and the birds and went back to the first lake (which is accessible via a path). There I took out my macro lens and got a handful of shots – including this millipede. I wanted to at least get something out of the shoot.
I then packed up my camera and went back to work. Immediately after getting back to my office, I went to the first aid kit and cleaned up my hands – then applied band aids all over. I proceeded to show up at my next meeting with my shoes completely covered with mud, my white socks brown, mud all over my pants, and my hands full of band aids. Of course, we’re all engineers so no one said anything…
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Tags: heron, millipede, photography, pond, story
“Of course, we’re all engineers so no one said anything…” Hahaha! Sounds like my work! Nice shots. Sorry to hear about the injuries received in the line of duty.
I wasn’t worried about the injuries, but was rather upset that I didn’t get any good shots!