It was late morning and we had completed our search for
wildlife in the early morning light. It was time to move on to look for scenics
and water reflections. Or so we thought.
We stopped at one of the many exquisite mountain lakes in
the Canadian Rockies where we knew some yellow-leaved aspens lined part of the
shoreline. We took a few shots and then noticed some movement in the water.
Through the binoculars we could see that there were several male and female
loons. They were far away, so we got out our longest lenses, set up the tripods
and began to shoot.
As the loons moved around the lake, diving for fish and
swimming on the surface, they eventually swam toward an area where the yellow
aspens were reflected in the water. This was a shot of a lifetime! In
this large lake there were many evergreens reflected in the water, but just a
small area where the aspens, in peak fall color, were reflected. How lucky that
the loons swam into that area, just when we happened to be there.
The yellow was a good backdrop for the loon’s neutral color
and gave great punch to this image.
When we arrived at the lake we thought we were done with
wildlife for the day, but clearly Mother Nature had other plans. Being flexible
and open to all opportunities is a good philosophy to follow when photographing
in any natural environment. You just never know what will present itself around
the next bend.
TECHNICAL DATA
Shutter Speed 1/3200 sec.
Aperture f/8. ISO 800. Lens: Canon 200-400mm f/4L IS with external
2x extender for an effective focal length of 800mm. Camera: Canon 5D Mark III. Gitzo tripod with Really Right Stuff ballhead
and Wimberley Sidekick.
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