“The Chase” 1st Place Winner in the Florida’s Avian Wonders category of the Orange Audubon Society’s 2008 (20th Annual) Kit and Sidney Chertok Nature Photography Contest.
Taken on March 1st, 2008 with a Canon EOS 40D and Canon 400mm f/5.6 USM L lens @ f/5.6, 1/1250s, ISO 200, Aperture Priority mode, hand held, at the Green Cay Wetlands.
My dad was last year’s first place winner in the birds category, and I have won third place and a couple honorable mentions in the past; but this year I finally won a first place award. Mind you, this was not the image I was expecting to win. I thought that my image of a Snowy Plover with a newly hatched chick would win out over this one, but it seems that the judges thought differently. I am glad that this image won, because it exemplifies everything that I preach about nature photography.
First of all it is an image of a Common Moorhen, which is perhaps one of the most common marsh birds in the world.
Second, it is a behavioral shot that tells you that this bird is fiercely territorial.
Thirdly, it is an image that I had envisioned in my mind for a long time. I had originally wanted to take a similar shot with American Coots, but those attempts never turned out the way that I wanted. However, whenever I saw a few moorhens, gallinules, or coots gathered in one area I always positioned myself at an angle where I could take a shot like the one above. A lot of patience and persistence paid off, and after six months of actively trying, I was able to get a result very close to what I had imagined.
Finally, I took this image with my Canon 40D, and Canon 400mm f/5.6 USM L lens; a very affordable combination for many beginning nature photographers, proving that you can get great images without completely breaking the bank.
