Photography, patience, and one very hungry alligator.
Over the years, I have spent countless hours photographing wildlife at Huntington Beach State Park in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina. It is one of my favorite places to take a camera, and the park’s resident alligators have certainly provided their share of photographic opportunities.
I couldn’t begin to tell you how many alligators I’ve photographed there over the years. Big ones, little ones, some resting quietly along the banks, and others gliding almost silently through the water. But of all those photographs, this one will probably always be my favorite.
And for a rather obvious reason!
There I was, camera in hand, when this particular alligator decided it was time for lunch. And lunch, as it turned out, was a blue crab!
Now, I’ve photographed plenty of alligators with their mouths open. I’ve even caught a few in the act of feeding. But capturing one with a crab positioned so perfectly between those powerful jaws? That’s not something you see every day although my friend Paulette Thomas seems to come away with plenty of spectacular images!
Wildlife photography requires a good deal of patience. You can spend hours waiting for something interesting to happen, only to return home with photographs of an animal doing absolutely nothing. Then, on another day, nature puts on a show you couldn’t have planned if you tried.
That’s part of what keeps me coming back. This particular image was shot several years ago, but I keep coming back!
Of course, a good photograph requires more than simply being in the right place at the right time. You still have to recognize the opportunity, have your camera ready, and capture the moment before it disappears.
But I’ll be the first to admit that sometimes luck plays a pretty significant role.
This particular alligator wasn’t posing for me. He wasn’t interested in making a photographer’s day. He was simply enjoying a meal, completely unaware that he was creating one of my favorite wildlife photographs.
And that’s one of the things I love most about nature photography. You never really know what you might encounter when you venture out with your camera.
Sometimes you come home with nothing particularly special.
Sometimes you come home with a memory.
And every now and then, you come home with a photograph that makes you smile every time you look at it.
This is one of those photographs.
Sometimes you just get lucky!
