Winter is usually the time I hermit in my house. Emerging only at the first sight of spring like a bear. Often at the size of a bear (January has a lot of birthdays in my house which means lot of cake!). But this year I’ve found bird photography that has got me motivated to break out the camera. I didn’t realize there were so many species still hanging around or have migrated to the area! But this story isn’t about that. It’s about luck.

A photographer friend of mine and I have been making it a point to plan some sort of photography trip at least once a month. CHECK THEM OUT HERE. This trip had me a little less than excited. Not that I didn’t want to take photos. It’s just winter. Everything is dead. Brown. Tan. Ugh. I didn’t really think I’d be getting much use out of the 400mm with 1.4x attachment. I was thinking black and white was going to be the go to. Boy was I wrong!

Right out of our car doors was a field littered with small birds. We b-lined it through the tall dead grass to get a closer look. Honestly, I could have sat there for hours. But I was the only one with 530mm of focal length so we pressed on for more. Surprisingly, there was plenty of green if you just took the time to look for it. Vegetation hung from stream banks like green flags on a purplish background. While Dan was up the water bed looking for (I suspect) beautiful scenes with rapids over rocks, I was face first into the macro lens. Trying to get the pattern just right.

Here is where the photography Gods shined down us with blissful glory. Keep in mind it’s 32 degree F. I am squatted over the stream of water that is running past my tripod legs. Still taking photos of green things. When something catches my attention out of the corner of my eye.

Right there, not even a meter away, sat a little foot snake just hanging out in the water. I must have stepped over it at least three times! By this time, Dan was back and we set up our cameras for a snake photoshoot. It was too lethargic to go anywhere fast. So we took our time.

We agreed. That made the entire trip worth it. Even if we didn’t get anything else. We were happy.