Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge Trip
I spent this past weekend at Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, a preserve on Assateague Island off the coast of Virginia, just south of the Maryland-Virginia state border. Chincoteague is one of my favorite places to photograph wildlife because of its wide variety of approachable subjects, so I try to make at least one trip there each year.
The past three years, I’ve gone there in November to meet other nature photographers from the online nature photography forum, Naturescapes.net, for our annual Mid-Atlantic group gathering. Highlights of our November trips usually include good numbers of Snow Geese, several species of waders including Great Blue Herons and Great Egrets, cooperative Cormorants, shorebirds, and plenty of gulls. Unfortunately, in the past three years that I have been on the NSN outing, we’ve also had some pretty bad weather. This weekend was no exception! We experienced thick fog, plenty of rain, dark skies, and sustained 20-30 mph winds for much of the trip. This combination of weather made photography pretty difficult (and camping on the island overnight quite interesting). Even so, Chris and I spent many hours at the refuge searching for good subjects and suitable settings, determined to get some usable shots from the trip.
In the past, trips to Chincoteague have nearly always resulted in portfolio worthy photographs for me. Even in bad weather, I’ve usually managed to create some unique image that stands out enough to become a favorite of mine. Browsing through shots from my recent trip, I can’t say any quite make the mark this time. Even so, I’m pretty happy with several of my pictures, and will be glad to add some new images to my ever growing stock gallery.
I’m back in New Jersey now, working the last few days of the fall season at Wildcat Mountain Wilderness Center before we shut down for the winter. As I process my photos from Chincoteague, I’ll post them on my blog, so be sure to check back later this week to see my newest shots.