A few years ago, while chasing a sunset with my camera, I was reminded of a valuable lesson I always teach in my Beginning Outdoor Photography Workshops, patience is key to great nature photography.
It goes against modern convention, yes, I will admit, as most photographers will always push gear above anything else, but cameras, lenses, and software aren’t what you should be focusing on when learning how to take a nature photo.
Learning the basic concepts of photography, such as light and composition, are far more important than any camera or lens. But, honestly, even more important than that is the ability to sit and wait for something extraordinary to happen. In other words, patience.
It was around late summer or early fall if my memory serves me correctly, and I was at the Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area nature preserve hoping to photograph a sunset.
I had a particular image in mind I was hoping to get, something with the long, wooden boardwalk that meanders through the marsh was on my bucket list that warm evening.
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It took me a little while to find the perfect location with the composition I was looking for, but once I had it set up, I sat and casually waited for the sun to set.
But to my surprise, what I thought was a perfectly cloud-filled skyline was not producing a sunset in the least. It was dismal at best so I decided to pack up my camera gear and head back to the parking lot before the mosquitos ate me alive.
I was probably about a quarter of a mile or more away from the parking lot so I just put my head down and concentrated on walking, trying to not let the hoards of mosquitos hovering around me get to me any more than they already were.
It was getting pretty dark, far past any hope for a sunset photo, or so I thought, but when I turned my head towards the great blue heron rookery I was stunned. I was completely shocked to see one of the most incredible sights I have ever seen while out in nature.
The sky was on fire and the clouds were filled with a dark red I rarely see when photographing sunsets.
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It was a near-perfect backdrop sitting just behind the great blue heron rookery so I immediately dropped my gear, quickly grabbed my camera and tripod, and took as many images as I could before it faded away.
Truthfully, if I hadn’t turned my head at that moment I would have missed the whole thing. I was so focused on getting out of the infestation of mosquitos I was dealing with, I had no interest in photography at the time until, well, I saw what was one of the most incredible sunsets I had ever seen.
If I would have stayed it out who knows what I could have done at the previous location near the boardwalk. If I would have left just a few minutes earlier I would have missed the entire thing.
I was very lucky I had the opportunity I did because I left way too early, and when I turned my head and saw the sunset burning behind the rookery, I knew it, too.
Patience is what most outdoor photographers need to work on when photographing sunsets, birds, or anything for that matter that relies upon the ever-changing, never-predictable light from the sun.
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Usually, when I photograph a sunset, I stay until it is completely dark, and that night was a perfect reminder of why I do that.
My lack of patience that evening, mixed with a few hundred or more over-zealous mosquitos mind you, almost caused me to miss one of the most spectacular sunsets I have ever seen, and it almost deprived me of one of the most cherished sunset images I have ever taken.
For those of you that like sunset photography, I personally find the best place to take great sunset images is out on the Great Salt Lake causeway. You can usually get right down to the water’s edge and if you catch it right, the lake is oftentimes glass smooth, offering an incredible reflection of the sunset on its salty waters.
During late summer and fall, there are lots of spiders in the rabbitbrush along the roadway, including black widows, so I always try to be careful when walking down to the water as to not walk right through a spider web.
The spiders, themselves, make for great photography subjects but I am not a great fan of the arachnid so I usually opt for the sunset instead.
If you are an aspiring nature photographer, take your time and be patient. We are at the mercy of mother nature so many times we just have to sit it out and wait for something incredible to happen, and it will if you sit and watch for it.
Don’t fall for the gimmick of needing to buy the latest and the greatest camera, lens, or software. Those things are only tools to help you capture what you see. Better gear can make the job easier but they can’t take the photo for you.
None of those things can and ever will replace an artistic eye and the seemingly lost art of being patient.
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