When all else fails on a trip to Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, I usually head to the beach.  There, you can nearly always find gulls resting on the beach sand, flying overhead, or perched on one of the fences in the parking area.  So, when the weather on our recent trip to Chincoteague turned sour and animals throughout the rest of the refuge hid from view, Chris and I made trips to the ocean to see what was there.

On one of our beach drive bys, the sun began to break through the clouds and offer some decent light.  Some Great Black-backed Gulls had been hanging out on the beach, and I really needed better shots of the species, so I decided to focus on photographing them.  For the most part, the gulls stayed huddled on the beach, bunkered down to avoid the harsh winds as much as possible, but every once in a while one would fly by.  In order to maximize my chances at getting some shots of the birds in flight, I found spot between where most of them were flying and made sure to position myself upwind of the gulls, since birds generally prefer to fly into the wind whenever possible.  And I waited.

That’s the name of the game in nature photography.  Waiting.  You wait for the right moment, the right light, the right composition, the right expression.  You wait and wait and wait and hope it will all come together the moment you press the shutter.  And when its no more than fifty degrees out and the 25 mph wind at your back makes it seem a good fifteen degrees colder, finding the patience to wait for the right moment only gets harder.

But, the results are often worth it.  After maybe five or ten minutes, an adult Great Black-backed Gull flew right in range, passing by me just close enough to fill the frame with my 300mm f/2.8 IS and 1.4x converter mounted on my 1D Mark II N.  I managed to get a few nice shots of the bird in flight, like the one below.

I’m pretty happy with this shot, as it’s definately the best I have of the species.  I really like the wing position of the bird, the soft light, and the muted palette.  It just proves that good photographs (like all other things) are worth waiting for!

Techs: Canon 1D Mark II N, 300mm f/2.8L IS USM + 1.4x Mark II Extender, handheld.  To order this print, purchase stock rights, or view other photos I have for sale, please visit my website at www.karipost.com.