Photographing Ducks
Lockdown photo learning that actually turned out
Lockdown 2020 gave me a chance to learn my mirrorless camera. Before March 2020, I only dabbled in learning about it. Part of that was because it was wintertime in Utah and it can be hard to get out and explore. Another part was working full time and just finding the time. I’m part visual, part hands-on learner, so I needed to be outside to help the learning process.
Come spring I was starting to get more motivated to learn more about the camera. I love springtime with the trees and flowers starting to bloom and baby animals if I’m in the right area. Winter in Utah can last from late October to late April, early May. It was time to get out and play with my camera.
Then mid-March 2020 hit and my plans changed along with everyone else’s. My job had closed for lockdown and I was left with more time than I’ve ever had in a long time. So, I decided to look online for material to start my learning journey and to honestly keep occupied. I was in the middle of planning a trip down to Arizona to see the desert in bloom, but fortunately, I hadn’t made any firm plans and saved myself the headache.
With lockdown heading into two months, I was getting more stir crazy by the day. So was my dad. We decided to take walks along parts of the neighborhoods to get out of the house and get some exercise in.
Baby animals usually appear starting in late April if the weather is on the warmer side. By later May, my dad and I were, even more, stir crazy with being cooped up and not being able to travel, so we decided to head out to a local subdivision 30 minutes down the valley. We don’t live in a pleasant area to walk around in, but there’s plenty of new subdivisions around the valley to choose from.
This subdivision is built as a mini-community in the city of South Jordan called Daybreak. It’s a huge community and keeps growing. They built a man-made pond in the middle of the main part along with some nice walking trails. Very pleasant to walk around for a short time or a long time.
It happened to be baby duck and goose season and I was excited to see them. During these walks, I took my camera with me so I could practice. What I wasn’t expecting was to practice on ducks. Any type of wildlife photography wasn’t on my radar at the time, especially ducks or geese.
Ducks are harder to capture than you would think, but I was up for the challenge. Why not? There were a few who just happened to be chilling on the grass and they were kind enough to stay still long enough for me to snap their picture. That made me so happy. Even the ducks in the water were kind enough to let me snap away.
After our walk, I wanted to look at the pictures, to my surprise, they turned out. I honestly wasn’t expecting any of them to turn out. They were my first bird pictures and animal pictures in general at that point. I was excited to edit them and see what I could use.
Looking back on it now, I realize my ability to capture animals had potential even in the beginning stages of my photography journey. A confidence booster for sure. Since then, I have captured some bird pictures, but they’re challenging and I’ll keep trying.
Few of my other lockdown journey stories:
- First Time Visit Ensign Peak by Alexandria Radford | The First Time (medium.com)
- Why Did the Cattle Cross? By Alexandria Radford | Loud Updates (medium.com)
- The Search for Pink Water by Alexandria Radford | Loud Updates (medium.com)
- Hunting For Old Tabernacles By Alexandria Radford | Loud Updates (medium.com)
- The Ghost Town That Flooded By Alexandria Radford | Loud Updates (medium.com)
Be Open Says;
So pleased to present you 1 of Be Open Golden Stories created by: Rowen Quinn
Approved by Be Open’s Editors: A Shayens Abran & Rhonda Marrone