It doesn’t get any better than this! It’s minus 10c, the wind is calm, and the sky is clear. Its 2:00 AM on this brisk February morning and the full moon casts its eerie shadows across the open area of my backyard called the “studio”. I’m sitting perfectly still, in my photo-blind, alongside the cold dark creek that runs beneath the tips of my toes. I’m warm although cold as anticipation of what’s to come; burns inside me.
The hours of patient waiting have paid off. Mr. Buck, a huge, antler-less, post-rut male, stealthily approaches the clearing. Reassured that my familiar scent is the only foreign presence there, he enters our domain and partakes of a hearty meal of molasses covered rolled oats, deer corn, alfalfa pellets, carrots and quartered apples.
Mr. Buck is thin and ragged looking. He’s paid a price for being the alpha male during the recent rut. He is in season, a beautiful creature. He sports a 14-point rack atop a majestic head with broad shoulders, a massive chest and body lines that rival a masterful work of art. He is the patriarch of the urban herd of 27 deer that calls my neighborhood home.
More than a few friends have asked me if I’m crazy, have a death wish or just masochistic. My response is always the same…until you’ve been there don’t knock it.
Living in a subdivision, bordered by of a wood lot once filled with wild creatures intrigued me. Could the original inhabitants be enticed to return? Would they be willing to leave the secure confines of the adjacent government owned forest and venture back into the open spaces of suburbia?
I began to read up on the behavior patterns of the critters I had seen on occasion, and decided that the opportunity to capture them on film was worth the investment of time and money.
I realized that wildlife had resided here long before the housing plat was designed 45 years ago and the critters had decided to stay whether we liked it or not! Construction of a subdivision may have driven them off for awhile but careful planting and landscape sculpturing was bringing them back. That knowledge reinforced my desire to establish my wildlife studio in my backyard. I began the process of laying out my plan while enhancing the area and making it wildlife friendly. The optimum word here is enhancing.
My animal census identified a wealth of potential opportunities. The subdivision had been constructed in an old orchard and my home sat in the middle of this fertile land. It had been a haven and home to deer, wild turkeys, muskrats, mallard ducks, Canada geese, raccoons, opossums, owls, coyotes, squirrels (gray and red), turkey vultures, foxes, birds of prey and more.
However, this once distant rural farm land, famous for its celery, had become a bedroom community for the middle-class who were attempting to escape the plight and crime associated with inner city living. The subdivision was now located in an adjacent community, within a stone’s throw of city hall and the town square.
I carefully selected a wooded area approximately 20 meters by 30 meters adjacent to the creek and within 35 meters of my back door. I set about clearing the area of all accumulated debris, shrubs and scrub brush. Along the tree-lined perimeter I attached two sets of halogen lights which provide 2000 watts of illumination. I constructed my photo blind of straw bales and camouflage netting, to break my silhouette and to minimize my presence.
When I began my unique concept I was convinced that I could satisfy my curiosity to photograph nocturnal and diurnal creatures’ right at home. It made good sense--less travel, no big lenses, no danger and everything any wildlife photographer could ask for without the effort or expense.
My first challenge was to decide how to entice these creatures to me, within the maximum focal distance of my less than telephoto lens. Next was the problem of color balance when shooting at night under the halogen lights. Another issue was slow film speed, less than adequate shutter speed in extreme low light conditions and eliminating motion blur caused when the animals moved.
I made a decision to overlook the color balance differences created by the artificial light and decided to override it using Photoshop. I realized I’d have to increase my film speed to at least 800 ISO or possibly 1600. This would not be a problem with a ten pixel digital camera. Shutter speed would be locked at 1/250 if I used my flash. These were interesting challenges along with the drain on my batteries in the cold temperatures.
My other concern was, “If I build it, would they come?” I built it and they came and keep coming.
As I began to modify the area, I would leave behind a treat comprised of a variety of foodstuffs--corn, rolled oats, carrots, apples, meat scraps, and stale bread covered with black strap molasses (a bonus my grandmother taught me, while growing-up in Dorchester, New Brunswick, Canada). “Animals,” she’d say, “have a weakness for sweets”….Don’t we all?. It didn’t take long before my animal friends began responding to the dinner bell.
Another concern was the impact of the halogen lights on the fright-flight response of the critters. Would the bright lights frighten them or would access to a free lunch override their fear levels? Much to my delight none of the nocturnal critters balked at entering the area under the lights. However, some, like the coyotes, remained leery, but came anyway. When food is available they quickly get over their flight response.
Incidentally, as I sit in my office, writing this piece, overlooking my “wildlife studio” I am joined by “My Baby”. She is a second season doe with a dislocated left front knee. She became my project when I realized early in January that she had been injured and had been ostracized by the rest of the herd. “My Baby” and I have developed a mutual code of conduct which I abide by. She resides 50 meters or so from the studio and I keep her fed with molasses bread, corn, rolled oats, carrots and fresh apples. She enters the studio three or four times in a twenty-four hour period, gets her fill before the others and goes back to her bedding area. “My baby” is not unique. Over the years there have been a number of wounded or injured animals cross my path. One fall it was a 12 point buck with a broken front leg followed a short while later by a fawn with a broken hip. Cars take their toll. Ultimately the aforementioned succumbed to their fate, but “My Baby” has defied the odds and has survived the harshest of times this winter. Now that spring is upon us I can smile a smile of hope and trust that somehow she will survive the summer despite her injury. Time has taught me that improvising can make a world of difference in the wild animal kingdom.
As “My Baby” looks up at me looking back at her, we exchange the understanding glance that mutually affirms her will to live and mine to help as much as I can. We learned to trust each other and our efforts have reaped dividends. Early on in our relationship I concluded she could better provide for herself if she had access to an elevated feeding tray. Previously, as soon as I spread her daily rations on the ground the voracious mallards would devour it. Without the adjustment she may not have survived.
Setting up a blind in close proximity to your subjects is an exciting and inexpensive way to capture wildlife images without spending a fortune on camera gear, camouflage clothing or travel. It is also a great way to assist with the conservation and preservation of the various species that abound right in your own backyard. Not only can you capture and create images of critters that you and others only see from afar but you can get up-close and personal with tens of species of birds, butterflies and insects, as well.
A simple set-up, using a 28-135mm lens, your flash, a fast shutter speed and a few food scraps, some corn and stale bread and a set of lights…and voila.
Life in the wild is not only fun, exhilarating and fascinating; it’s an education. It will tax your abilities as a wildlife photographer, increase your appreciation of nature “up-close and personal” and allow you to bring home memories of animal relationships others only dream about.
The study of nature, its creatures and their habits is a great way to pass your time and to be able to share what you have learned with others through photography.
As spring strolls quietly in, it will soon be time for the critters I have befriended to reward me with their offspring. Like any good father I look forward to the arrival of new life. My friends in the animal kingdom have yet to let me down. The kit foxes, coyote pups, fawns and raccoon babies are about due to arrive. Mom and dad will no doubt bring them along and into the studio to “show them off” once they are old enough to get around on their own. And there I’ll be waiting to take their first baby pictures. But most of all I can’t wait for “My Baby” to arrive with her fawn, knowing that I had a role in saving two lives and helping to conserve and preserve the future of the species.
The sun is rising on another day and I have to say goodbye to my creatures of the night as I welcome in my subjects of the day.
Wildlife photography has a way of keeping me focused on what matters in life.
That’s why it doesn’t get any better than “Shooting Memories…While Preserving Life!”
