Photography Lessons – Patience and Persistence
I’ve learned a lot of photography lessons this summer. The first two are patience and persistence. These occurred many times on my trip to the Great Bear Rainforest in mid-June with Ocean Adventures. The most memorable one was when we were on the zodiac for six hours one afternoon. We had a very hearty lunch (I think Trish knew it could be a long afternoon on the zodiac) and started cruising around the inlet to see what we could see, hoping to spot a couple of grizzlies we’d photographed the previous day.
We continued on for about three and half hours, just enjoying the scenery, and every once in awhile we (there were seven of us on the zodiac that day) stopped the motor on the boat and just floated and listened to the birds. It was very peaceful. Eventually we spotted one of the grizzlies!
Now, our Eric, our guide, was determined that we could find one (or maybe both) of the grizzlies again before going back to the boat for supper. We continued our tour of the inlet, watching an eagle try to swoop down on a Merganser Duck chick (it was eventually successful), while being very quiet and moving very slowly so as not to disturb any bears that may be in the vicinity. Eric’s persistence paid off, and at 6:30 we came upon the same grizzly…
We spent about half an hour watching the grizzly with Eric expertly maneuvering the zodiac so everyone could get the photograph they wanted. Sometimes I would put my camera down and just watch the bear. 
At about 7pm we headed back to the boat for supper (and maybe more importantly, a much needed bathroom break!).
It was a memorable day and the lessons that patience and persistence pay off is one I remember now when I’m trying to get certain shots (I spent about an hour photographing the sunflowers in my previous post).
prairie girl wonders 
Amazing photos. Like National Geographic.
thank you!
It’s taken me a long time to learn patience, but you’re right, particularly in nature photography, you need patience and perseverance. Or, you’ll never make a descent photograph.