I always admire when I see other folks’ nature images of animals and how close they are able to get when photographing them. While out driving about in Siouxland I have chance encounters with various species. And some just seem uninterested in making my acquaintance.
I might be lucky enough to roll up on them unsuspectingly in a vehicle, but stopping and even opening a door for better positioning to photograph them doesn’t always work out. And shooting through windshields and windows never does. But I continue to try and look for other ways of getting close to subjects so I might frame them a little tighter for one or two shots. And yeah, it’s the journey. But occasionally a reward along the way would be nice.
Weird behavior- you can continue to drive right past one sitting on a wire by the side of the road and they don’t give a care. Slow down just a titch or much less let them see your brake lights and they are gone like cats at bathtime.
Never tried giving a cat a bath. I like my arms and hands, although my personal feline friends over the years have tattooed me in various ways. Didn’t want to push my luck. Birds on a wire though, it helps in having a long telephoto lens.
Again, having the long lens really helped. Video might have been nice of this scene in that the little guy’s head was on a swivel and followed me as I moved left.
I live in the Siouxland area that encompasses a wide swatch of land in northwest Iowa, northeastern Nebraska and southeastern South Dakota. The people that inhabit this area are generous folk and your basic honest, Midwestern people you like to have as neighbors. I explore the area and share observations, mostly photographic, sometimes through video, and and short text. All images and video are copyrighted material of the author.
Jerry Mennenga, Sioux City, Iowa
jerrylmennenga@yahoo.com
lostinsiouxland 
Weird behavior- you can continue to drive right past one sitting on a wire by the side of the road and they don’t give a care. Slow down just a titch or much less let them see your brake lights and they are gone like cats at bathtime.
Never tried giving a cat a bath. I like my arms and hands, although my personal feline friends over the years have tattooed me in various ways. Didn’t want to push my luck. Birds on a wire though, it helps in having a long telephoto lens.
Again, having the long lens really helped. Video might have been nice of this scene in that the little guy’s head was on a swivel and followed me as I moved left.