A Bad Photography Day

We all have them. Well, I hope so anyway. Nothing seems to be ‘clicking’ into place as it were. You set off with the intention of capturing some truly incredible photos and you end up with sub-par at best. Maybe even nothing. You feel annoyed, and rather like you’ve just wasted a good chunk of your time when it could have been spent elsewhere.

That’s how I felt the other day.

I’d been itching to get outside with my camera. The weather, as we all know, has been horrific. But in those few glimmers of sunlight, I’d been seeing photographs captured by various people of birds, in particular kingfishers, in the local area and well, it had me feeling frustrated.

In hindsight, this is where I perhaps made my first mistake – I went out due to frustration that I hadn’t been out taking photographs. Like many creatives, sometimes you need to prioritise life admin and that is what I’d been doing. Berating myself for this was, of course, rather ridiculous. But when you’re feeling fed up, you’re not always prone to thinking reasonably.

Well, the weather was gorgeous, I had a few hours before work, and well – how could I not? It would have felt wrong of me to spend any more time inside. So, I finished walking Percy, dropped him home, and was out the door again. I did not have a lot of time, so headed to the local canal in hopes of a nice kingfisher shot or heron, perhaps a cormorant or even sparrowhawk.

As wonderful as a day it was, I came back with nothing. No photographs. Although I’d seen plenty, I was bitter about the whole session. Quickly spiralling into a ‘I’ll never take a good photograph again.’ For the rest of the day, I was annoyed at myself for not brushing this off, like I often do. ‘I still saw plenty of wildlife and enjoyed the fresh air’ is usually what I tell myself, but I just could not get past my annoyance.

Now, with a few ‘better’ photography sessions since that event, I realise it was the mindset I went out with. Perhaps it was because I was under a time constraint, and perhaps it was also because the weather was great so I had to take advantage of it - but I went with the mindset of getting a photograph.

You may be thinking, ‘well, obviously!’ Throughout my many years of going out taking photographs, rarely have I ever made ‘getting the photograph’ the end goal. The photograph has always been the bonus, the added extra after a shoot. Rarely has it been the whole purpose; it has been an element of course, but never the sole reason. I go out to explore because I enjoy doing so, and taking photographs is another element I enjoy alongside. This shoot I did that was rushed and because I wanted a photograph, it’s no surprise it ended with me feeling quite pissed off.

In contrast, one session that was far more intentional, unsurprisingly was a lot more successful. Not just with photographs, but the whole experience. 

I left early in the morning and drove to my destination still rubbing sleep from my eyes. I trekked across muddy fields in the pre-dawn light, scanning the fields for any sign of moving mounds of earth. I did not have to wait long till a hare was marching towards me along the hedgerow, barely visible in the morning light.

It was far too dark for a photograph, so I held myself still as it came closer and closer, and closer still. Stopping itself when only a few feet away, I imagine it may have smelt me or eventually realised that I was not part of the scenery, and bounded back across the field. After that encounter, I was happy enough and at that point, any photographs would had been an extra.

But then, the hares once more decided they wanted an extra close-up.

I’d set myself up, quietly tucked away in my usual hiding spot, once more scanning the horizon for the unmistakable long ears. The sun had started to rise properly now, but unfortunately it was a heavy overcast morning, so it did little to lighten the scene. But the muted palette of earthy tones and soft grey sky looked beautiful all the same.

Now hares are very quiet creatures, they have caught me by surprise several times, often appearing behind me when I’ve been focused on others in the field. They really do seem to emerge from the ground, and as quickly melt away again. This encounter was no exception. I glanced back along the hedgerow I was hiding in, and once more another hare was moving along the edge up towards me.

No matter how many times I see them, I’m always awe-struck. Their presence demands that you pay attention to them. This hare was no different. I had attempted to angle my camera to get a shot, but before long it was far too close for me to even get a shot if I had wanted too.

I was practically eye to eye with it now, I’d never been so close to an adult hare before. If it was bothered by me, it did not show it. I could see each individual whisker, the strands of fur – dark coffee, sooty black, golden, all varying shades of brown. How its nose twitched as it leaned towards me to sniff, ears perked up. The eyes! Those striking, honey-yellow eyes. They regarded me with a knowing look, that’s how it felt anyway, curious as to what I was. 

After a moment that seemingly stretched on forever, it moved on, slowly once more, no urgency at all. It got to the very edge of the hedgerow before it leapt into the air, perhaps startled by my presence or perhaps a simple ‘mad’ hare moment, before it bounded lazily across the field to other hares I could just about make out on the far side.
Now, I was really content if I had no photographs at all.

The light never came for me, but I did manage a handful of photographs of the hares that day. But that didn’t bother me, I’d shared an experience with an animal that is seldom seen.

A rather sodden looking hare.

I’ve realised too late that I’ve waffled on a little too much here, but the point I’m trying to make is that any day you go out with your camera can be a good or bad session. It entirely depends on your mindset and what your intentions are when you go out. Do you want to capture an award-winning, once in a lifetime, never seen before behaviour style image? Of course, we all do. But the majority of the time, you won’t be getting such an image. Sometimes you won’t get a photograph at all. If you go out with that mindset, you’ll likely be disappointed with yourself. So, if you change the priority to just being outside and observing nature, you may experience moments that are far more valuable than the photograph. Perhaps you’ll get lucky and capture that award-winning shot at the same time.

Thanks for reading if you got this far x