My daily commute to work is 48 miles each way. Since I despise freeway traffic I always take the "old" highway 83 from Parker to Colorado Springs. It's a pleasant drive with enough curves and hills to keep your interest and along the way I see some great sights. With that in mind I headed out Saturday morning to photograph some things I see everyday on my drive. There were some pseudo wildflowers planted in the medians of some of the streets in Parker which would be nice at sunrise. And just a mile or so past Castlewood Canyon State Park one of the ranchers has some Longhorn steers that look awesome with a bit of backlight. Then there's the bison ranch a few more miles down the road and my ultimate destination, Paint Mines Interpretive Space near Calhan, east of Colorado Springs.
Well, the best laid plans.....when I got out of bed Saturday morning before sunrise the wind was blowing pretty hard so photographing flowers was out. Then I broke one of my photographic rules: "When traveling with the possibility of seeing wildlife alongside the road, keep the telephoto lens on the camera." I rolled up to see the Longhorns near the road but by the time I popped the hatch, got the camera out of the bag and attached the tele zoom, they had looked me over and decided to move off into the distance, presenting me with a grand view of their butts! Further down the road, the bison were about 1/2 mile off the road in the middle of the pasture so no shot there. Finally arriving at Paint mines, the wind was blowing even harder and it was after the 30 minute "magic" light so finding compositions with good lighting was pretty much impossible. Again, no shots.
One good thing came of my travels, though. I headed north out of Calhan to Kiowa and on the road there decided to head up Comanche Creek road to see if Prairie Wind Wildlife Refuge is still operational. I'd photographed all sorts of critters there back in the 90's but hadn't been there in nearly 15 years so I was pretty amazed that I remembered the route. Sure enough, the tigers were pacing their cages and there was a new lion enclosure. I didn't stop because they don't much like to have folks drop in unannounced, but I did take a trip down memory lane.
I stated a few months ago that I was going to post some essays from my original website and this is the perfect chance to bring one of them out of mothballs. Sit back, relax, and enjoy.
Every Picture Tells A Story, Don't it…
And mine are no exception. Take the Cougar series for example. I don't often have nightmares or dreams that wake me up in the night but when I do, they usually involve a cougar. We all have our phobias and that's mine. So when I was given the chance to photograph one of the cougars at the Prairie Wind Wildlife Refuge I gave it considerable thought before deciding to go for it.
The nights leading up to the weekend photo session were restless for the most part and as the time drew nearer I became more and more anxious. Was this thing going to eat me? Chew me beyond recognition? I'd seen deer and elk that were cougar kills and as an illustration of a cat's power and ability I've even seen a housecat kill a rabbit in one swift motion. The power per pound of these animals is awesome. It took all my will power and resolve to avoid picking up the phone and calling to cancel. But I was strong!
Saturday morning dawned clear and beautiful on the plains, the first rays of the sun lighting up the Front Range in my rear view mirror on the drive. That served to calm me a bit, but I was still more nervous than I'd been in a while. The orientation speech Michael gave did little to bolster my confidence. "Whatever you do don't run or show any signs of fear. These may be pets but they're still wild animals." That's code for "they will kill and eat you if you're not careful."
Okay, done with the speeches, tripods and lenses set up, film loaded, and my shooting site selected. The cat is released by one of Michael's assistants and comes over the hill about 100 yards away headed for Michael and the tidbits of meat he offers as incentive to behave. Right away I notice that the beast seems to be fixated on me. His eyes meet mine over the distance and I immediately look away. ("….don't make eye contact, they think it's a challenge.") The cat, Cheyenne, lopes up to me then walks in a slow circle around me giving me the once over. "Relax" Michael says, "he just likes your deodorant." (which by now has failed miserably)
Finally after 10 seconds which seemed like 10 minutes, the cat comes closer and drags his tongue up the side of my head then plops down to rest about 5 feet from my camera. I could have tugged his tail if I'd been so inclined. Check out the Critters portfolio and you'll see the results.
