Sometimes you have to endure to get the right shot or least that is my thinking.I have found that being involved with Photography has it's many rewards not just from the finished product but also from the journey as it is kinda like writing a song-you start with a idea or a riff and being I am a pro guitarist I usually start with the idea but then you slowly bring in elements that you like and a bit of this and that and wella!! you have a song and photography is no different depending on what format you shoot and depending on whether you shoot indoors or outdoors and depending on whether you are a photo rebel or just a casual shooter-I happen to be a rebel with the camera and there have been many times especially in the past few months where this has been tested-todays blog is about one of those tests but from a different angle-the angle of "is this photo shoot worth all of this strife?"
Tuesday eve-6/30-09
I have metioned many times before about my hangout-the Pond, a part of the Flathead river that branches off in what is called the backwaters-channels or branches that vear away from the main river for a ways and then reconnect downstream.
The Pond is home to wildlife such as river otter,beavers,deer,skunk and even bear from time to time not to mention(even tho I have only been told but never seen one) mountain lion and a variety of bird life including my favorite photo op friends the Osprey (even tho the Bald Eagle is on the list they seem to elude me for now).
It was about 7:15 p.m. and I decided to hike the backwater in hopes of capturing (photograph) the two huge Beavers that are tearing up the trees around here as one of the beavers are easily 3 feet long if not longer and probably weighs a good 100 pounds or more as my wife and I spotted them the day before cruising around the backwater but as I approached what I call the Eagle lookout I noticed that some folks were down on beach several hundred feet upstream and that the possiblilties of seeing the beaver let alone photographing it was not very good so I proceeded to hike to the Pond from the east side and then south-only about a 10 minute trip through the backwoods.As I got to the Pond I decided to hike along the shoreline and head north (I could of taken the road but then I miss the chance of photographing something if given the chance).
The night before I did capture this crane who decided he was bunking down for the night but my destination for today was to hike just past the fallen tree in the picture where I could shoot the Osprey and their young.
The hike through this terrain is pretty thick with all sorts of trees,brush,bugs,spiders and just about anything you could imagine that can slow you down because your up and over and under and in some cases pulling off spider webs from your face but all for the photo...all for the photo...
It took me about 15 minutes to travel about 2 blocks and with camera gear in tow-1 photo bag and one backpack in impossible terrain-hard on the body or as one person could put it..a recipe for disaster.
I reached the fallen tree as the trunk was actually above ground about two feet meaning I would have to step up on the trunk and balance my way to a section of the fallen tree in order to scale a small water way that was in front of me if I wanted to continue the journey-but to continue I had to jump over the water way about 2 feet out and then fall another 2 feet or so and lean forward so I wouldn't fall backwards which would mean camera gear and myself would be swimmimg if I timed this wrong.
I took a deep breath as many thoughts ran through my mind as I am a clutz when it comes to stuff like this and in most cases SOMETHING will go wrong!
I made the leap rather proud of myself that I was now sailing through the air and woohoo!! I passed the water way and was looking good for a landing and I felt my feet touch ground and from the momentum I leaned forward as my body adjusted from the fall and with all of my weight forward I proceeded to push forward but then it happened-out of nowhere I felt something piercing my right nostril and moving up towards the bridge of my nose at a rather fast pace.
I tried to get my footing as my balance was now off kilter and then it hit me like a ton of bricks-SNAP!! went the branch and I stood there for what seemed like a minute and now realized that I just jumped on top or into a dead tree that had it's branches pointed up and one branch was now implanted nearly 2 inches into my right nostril and to make matters worse it had snapped off.
There was not much of a branch to grab onto but It had to be done but as I qucikly grabbed for what little was hanging out of my nose it occured to me that if I pull out this 2 inch branch from my nose that if it ripped something on the way up (in our family big noses run in the family...hmmm wonder if Mom has a nose story like this) that the blood will flow....I had to take the chance but my brain now did a quick scan of the chances of me carrying a kleenex which are great because of my severe allergies but now the warning was sounding in my nose...err ummm head-you didn't bring any tissue this time...
Great!!! I thought but I did have my cell phone so that I could call home if need be but time was running out-I couldn't leave the broken branch and I had to take the chance that I could remove it so I quickly grabbed the end of the branch and yanked the 2 inch long tree from my nose....... I waited for the blood to flow.....ummm I was still waiting but nothing.
Could I have escaped a nasty nose bleed?
could I have been so fortunate to be spared sneezing tree leaves and bark?
I hurried my way to the Osprey lookout or up in this case and called my wife who proceeded to laugh at my pain...maybe it was the story but I am sure it was the thought that here her husband is walking around the backwoods of northwest montana with a tree hanging out of his nose....what a picture that would of been.
After shaking off the dust or in my case the leaves and bark of dispare I did get some great photos of Momma Osprey and her young or one of them as lil Osprey danced around the nest as mom watch from a nearby tree.
Moral of the story-always bring tissue with you as you never know when you will be removing mother nature from your nostrills.
