Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
We stood in the bone-chilling darkness, waiting for a picture perfect sunrise that would never come. It was spring in the Smokies. Sunrise quashing fog is part of the gamble.
There were easily three dozen of us photographers armed with tripods and cameras. We were all set up, hoping to capture the magic of the sun rising over the mountain tops from the vista on Foothills Parkway.
We clutched our coffee mugs, trying to stay warm in the moist, pre-dawn air. Some of the others were having lively conversations but it was too damn early and cold for me stand around being social. And it was clear to me the fog was not going to lift in time for us to get what we came for.
Not being one to waste the Herculean effort of dragging my ass out of bed in the wee hours of the morning, I looked for something else to shoot. After a bit, I found this intrepid ladybug carousing in the grass in the growing light of dawn.
I stalked it like a nature paparazzi as it conducted its business amongst the dew drops. Eventually it wandered into a position I was hoping for as it climbed this vertical stalk.
Then it dropped a deuce. How’s that for conducting its business? And, of course, that tiny bug shit clung to the wet leaf just below it.
I mean, come on! All that time laying on the cold, wet ground trying to get a shot I was happy with and I was rewarded with a turd. But that little ladybug never got into a better position that didn’t include bug shit, so yes, I removed it from the image.
In the end, I came for a sunrise and left with a ladybug. And I was reminded wildlife photography is very unpredictable and that’s why I generally stick with far more cooperative subjects like plants and flowers.
Cheers!
Bluesky Art Show
This post is inspired by the Bluesky Art Show, a challenge to share artwork surrounding a weekly theme each Saturday.
Leave a Reply