An Unexpected Encounter
After several trips to the Rocky Mountain states with my point and shoot camera I finally decided to buy a DSLR. I bought a Nikon D3300 with the 2 kit lenses. I only had the D3300 for a week before I was heading on a trip again. I barely knew how to use it but I was excited to see what results I could get from my new camera. I loaded up my camping gear and new camera and I headed out for a week in Colorado. I have always had an interest in wildlife so I decided that was what I wanted to mainly try and photograph on this trip.
I drove all around Colorado exploring and taking pictures of everything at all times of the day. I knew of the golden hour time but I did not fully appreciate the significance of shooting during this time to get great images.
I arrived in Great Sand Dunes National Park and decided to camp for 2 nights. Around noon on my second day I went hiking on a trail near the campground. I was trying to find some wildlife. About a mile in I came to a small valley and made my way off trail about 300 yards up the valley. I sat at a terrible location on top the valley looking down at the small river. I was inexperienced and didn’t know that at eye level with the wildlife I could get the best results.
I unnecessarily set my camera up on my $20 tripod and began to wait to see what would pass by. I waited for around 15 minutes then I heard something moving through the bushes below. I was filled with excitement, for I thought it may be a mule deer or an elk. It was neither. As I looked through my viewfinder I saw just the back of an animal and I immediately knew what it was. It was a mountain lion.
I frantically began taking as many pictures as I could. I only had the 55-200mm kit lens at the time so at about 30 yards the pictures were not turning out too good. I then noticed the cougar was looking straight at me and it started to hunch down. It looked as if it was going to start sprinting right towards me at any second. I felt a bit uneasy so I jumped up and stared it straight in the eyes so it knew that I knew where it was and that it couldn’t surprise me. It sat among the trees for a few minutes just staring at me. I began to feel a bit more comfortable with the situation so I looked over and grabbed my camera. I looked back at the spot where the cougar was and it was gone. I saw no trace of it and heard no noise. I was a little bit spooked so I packed up my gear and hastily hiked back to the campground. As I walked back I frequently kept turning around and tried to stay on high ground just incase the mountain lion was stalking me. Needless to say I made it back to camp safe and sound.
After this encounter I checked the photos I took and I was disappointed. They were not sharp and I had to severely crop and edit them to make the mountain lion more visible in the image. Seeing one of these wild cats in their natural habitat was a very special encounter. They are rarely seen in the wild. I was very fortunate to be able to photograph this animal even though the images are well below good quality.
This event really got me even more into photography. I ended up buying a 150-600mm lens a few months later so if an opportunity like this arouse again I would be able to come away with a better image.
In wildlife photography you never know what to expect. More times then not you can wait for hours and days and not take a single photograph. Some days you can get lucky. Some days you can come across a spectacular subject but the perfect image just slips away.
