Trust

“Trust” 

Blue-winged Teal Duck 

Judy Royal Glenn Photography

When I am photographing an animal in the wild, there is a trust factor between the subject and myself. I am sure of my intent—to photograph them, but they don’t know why I am there.

Recently, there were a lot of birds in a distant pond at the Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge, and I wanted to photograph them. I noticed it was a bird I very rarely get to photograph—the blue-winged teal duck. The first and only time I photographed them was in 2014. 

My goal was to get super close as they swam through a beautiful, thick, green layer of duckweed, which was on top of the pond. Birds are lucky; they have the luxury of flying away from danger, so I usually try to get a quick shot. Then my normal routine is to take a shot, move closer, and repeat. 

Their trust or lack thereof comes into play as they see me move closer. About 15 birds were in the pond, and as I moved closer, they swam away. But, as they saw me being still and I wasn’t a threat, they came back.

It was quite a balancing act, a sort of dance if you may. None-the-less, I got the shots I wanted and thanked them for allowing me to photograph them.