First outings
Traveling to various places by any means of transport is something we all do, whether it's for work, pleasure, as travel bloggers or to photograph wild animals. Being a travel writer I have expectations, a desire to arrive and be able to get on with things. After making the decision to take up wildlife photography, the same applies. How many of you have landed at some city or place only to be disappointed. The destination was not what you thought it would be.
My first trip took up over 4 hours with about 5 miles walking in hopes of photographing some deer. The wood's write up said there are quite a few there and I was looking forward to getting some shots. Upon arrival the first thing I saw were dozens of people walking a lot of dogs and making all kinds of noise—no right minded deer would want to be within hundreds of yards to them. So I headed off trail into the deep woods and waited, but I could still hear the barking and people shouting out to the dogs. While that was going on this doe ran past at full speed to get away from the dog lot and was going so fast that I could not even get my camera up for a shot. I walked out of the place and will never return, even though I had a great sense of well being that I managed the entire trip well. It was the first longer journey since my operation.
Doing too much too soon is not a good idea until I am in better shape, so I gave it a weeks rest. I do this when I'm on the road and figure the same concept will work for this. The forecast was light rain and indeed that was correct. The BBC's weather site is a mess. If they say the sun will shine, it usually doesn't and vice versa, though occasionally they get it right. This time they did and my light rain jacket came in handy.
To reach the area involved a bus ride to another train station. I knew the schedule and as I got off the bus, the train left, so I had 30 minutes to kill. Finally it arrives and off I go. The area I wanted to reach was only 4 stops down the line, outside of the London area. Exiting the station was easy and the trail I needed was about 50 feet on the other side of the road.
The area is quite hilly, which is good because it means I will lose some weight even though I am out of shape. The trail started out easy, then the slope increased as I headed toward the large wooded region I had seen on Google maps. No one was around, I was all alone until a couple walking their dog were heading my direction. I asked if there was any wildlife in the woods and the reply was that there are bluebells. What!?
They were correct, no animals. As for the Bluebells, yes, they were all over the place so I took a photo and headed back home. The trip lasted about 3 hours with 3 or so miles covered on foot.
The region will be good just to hike without me having to go to the other side of London wasting many hours on trains or waiting for them. I shall return to the area to put some miles behind me and hopefully break the 10 mile barrier by the end of May.
In retrospect, I realized that failures are
My first trip took up over 4 hours with about 5 miles walking in hopes of photographing some deer. The wood's write up said there are quite a few there and I was looking forward to getting some shots. Upon arrival the first thing I saw were dozens of people walking a lot of dogs and making all kinds of noise—no right minded deer would want to be within hundreds of yards to them. So I headed off trail into the deep woods and waited, but I could still hear the barking and people shouting out to the dogs. While that was going on this doe ran past at full speed to get away from the dog lot and was going so fast that I could not even get my camera up for a shot. I walked out of the place and will never return, even though I had a great sense of well being that I managed the entire trip well. It was the first longer journey since my operation.
Doing too much too soon is not a good idea until I am in better shape, so I gave it a weeks rest. I do this when I'm on the road and figure the same concept will work for this. The forecast was light rain and indeed that was correct. The BBC's weather site is a mess. If they say the sun will shine, it usually doesn't and vice versa, though occasionally they get it right. This time they did and my light rain jacket came in handy.
To reach the area involved a bus ride to another train station. I knew the schedule and as I got off the bus, the train left, so I had 30 minutes to kill. Finally it arrives and off I go. The area I wanted to reach was only 4 stops down the line, outside of the London area. Exiting the station was easy and the trail I needed was about 50 feet on the other side of the road.
The area is quite hilly, which is good because it means I will lose some weight even though I am out of shape. The trail started out easy, then the slope increased as I headed toward the large wooded region I had seen on Google maps. No one was around, I was all alone until a couple walking their dog were heading my direction. I asked if there was any wildlife in the woods and the reply was that there are bluebells. What!?
I was surrounded by bluebells.
They were correct, no animals. As for the Bluebells, yes, they were all over the place so I took a photo and headed back home. The trip lasted about 3 hours with 3 or so miles covered on foot.
The region will be good just to hike without me having to go to the other side of London wasting many hours on trains or waiting for them. I shall return to the area to put some miles behind me and hopefully break the 10 mile barrier by the end of May.
In retrospect, I realized that failures are
May 07, 2023
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