Knock knock!
Hello, I’m Mr. Opportunity! Yes, I realize this isn’t Retro Ad Tuesday, and no, I’m not going to try to sell you a clearanced Honda Odyssey…. at least not right now! No, today I’d like to talk to you all about one of the most important elements of photography that can literally mean the difference between a winning a Pulitzer Prize or wasting Polaroid film….. and that’s OPPORTUNITY!
You see, the stuff that makes great pictures doesn’t always present itself to the 
photographer easily, and you must be ready and strike precisely when the golden moment presents itself! This is particularly true if you photograph squirrels, like The Nest’s resident blogger does. Squirrels can do some crazy and funky things… but their antics come and go so quickly, it is hard to capture them at their very best.
And it’s especially hard to capture them at all if you don’t have your camera with you!
Our intrepid sciurine photographer woke up just two mornings ago to see one of his squirrels going batshit crazy in the backyard… hopping up and down on a stick poking up out of the ground, then picking up an empty corncob and holding it to his mouth like a bugle. Either would have made a great picture… had the camera not been in another room. By the time the camera was retrieved, the crazy squirrel had scampered off to another yard. That same morning, an opportunity to get a picture of a squirrel gazing down from a cable wire a mere 15 feet off the ground and directly overhead was also missed. Why? Someone went for a walk without their camera. Tut tut!
Dull and totally uninteresting.
To demonstrate how opportunities can be missed even when the camera is ready and waiting to fire, take the squirrel up above. This is not a photo you will be seeing in National Geographic anytime soon. It probably wouldn’t even make the back page of a small town newspaper. Squirrels are almost constantly in motion… blink, and you might miss something awesome. For example, what was the squirrel you see above doing just a few seconds before that photo was taken?
This moment could have been missed!
Now THAT”S more like a Saturday Squirrel!
Well, that’s all for today folks! Remember, my name’s Mr. Opportunity…. (Bang! Bang!) and I’m knocking!
Have a great weekend everyone!
Evil Squirrel's Nest 
Buy Google Glasses … nah, they’re too expensive and kind of creepy, ESN.
I’m not even sure what they are, and probably don’t want to know!
I tend to find that carrying my camera with me is petty much a guarantee NOTHING cool is going to happen…but then, patience was never my long suit. Neither was coolness. 🙂
Yes… when I’m out for my walks, carrying the camera with me rarely presents anything interesting. Of course, the one time I don’t….
Fine, I will buy an Accord!
Wait….that’s not what this post was about.
I love that picture. I am trying to think of an appropriate caption but I think the look says it all 🙂
Yes…. I’m just a pretty squirrel among a field of pretty weeds… er, violets!
I will not buy and Accord (Mr. Opportunity is creepy even by my standards). But I will look at those darling squirrel pictures a few more time, then put peanuts out for my little back-yard squirrels.
YAY! Feeding opportunities for our furry friends!
That last picture is amazing! I know this is short notice, but would you be willing to send that in for the art show we’ll be hosting soon? I can send it back afterward if you want, or you can put it in the fundraiser part of the show (money raised from the sellable art goes towards David’s service dog fund). I will ensure you get artist credit and an artist card and the photo would be displayed in an official art gallery. : )
I don’t mind if you use the picture for either the show or the fundraiser. I don’t have it printed out anywhere, and I don’t know if I’ve even tried to print a picture out on the printer I have now. Do you have the means and the know-how to download it from my blog and print it out yourself? If so, you have my blessing to use it!
Thank-you so much 🙂 I really appreciate it : ) If you want anything specific on your artist card, feel free to e-mail me at [email protected] and I will make sure it gets on there for you. 🙂
Awww, after my name and my blog’s address, anything else you want to put is up to you! I hope it’s a big hit!
Thanks 🙂
This is why I like camera phones – at least if something happens I have some chance to drag it out my pocket, enter the PIN, change screens, find the camera app, get it going… well, not much chance actually!
LOL! I wouldn’t even know where to begin to use the camera on my old antique….
Nature photography is all about being ready for the moment, isn’t it !! yes, this gets the Pulitzer !!! even if at the cost of many wasted rolls 😀
I wonder if there is a Pulitzer for Squirrel Photography?
This time last year we had a hoarde of squirrels cavorting in our grounds. This year, they all seem to have disappeared. And of course I could never photograph them because it’s apparently rude to take your camera to breakfast in a Religious community…
Great shot! I’ve tried to snap some of our local squirrels but they run and hide, and laugh at me…
That’s why I have to hide in my window! The moment I step outside, they run for their nests!