Who knew that macro photography could be so fraught with danger. Okay, maybe that is a little too dramatic. It’s more likely that when you combine a total klutz (me) with learning a new skill (photography) and a propensity for taking photos up close things are just bound to happen.
In reality most of my misadventures have had nothing to do with me being klutz which is a whole other aspect of life with Andi, trust me! I fall up stairs (and down them as well); burn myself, cut myself, bruise myself, you name it. Somehow in 42-years I have managed to never break anything so I really can live with the rest, even if it means I will never be a leg model (because of all the awesome scars..and not the fact that I am only five feet, okay four-eleven-three-quarters tall).
But I digress.
You see this little beauty?
Well this photo is not the first one of these I spotted. Nope. When we started the Zion Overlook Trail I noticed them right away and knew I wanted to take a photo of it. I like taking macro shots, so I walked off the trail to this spot to take its photo.
The flower I was trying to capture and the last rock I stepped on….
I was leaning down to get the shot the way I wanted. I needed to get closer so I continued stepping down the side of the hill to do just that. I got the flower in the frame when I heard the distinct sound of a rattle.
As in rattlesnake.
I don’t think I have ever moved so fast in my life as I removed my foot from that rock and scrambled back up the path! (Don’t worry Mom and Dad, as you know I am alive and well.)
I spent the rest of the hike on the path and making as much noise as possible just in case the snake had friends.
Then in the afternoon we spent time on Kolob Terrace checking out the view from that side of the park. We had the road to ourselves and made a lot of stops for photos. I love the cactus flowers, I think they are called thistles, and I have taken my fair share of them in Valley of Fire, Sedona, etc.
They were everywhere. I stopped on the side of the road to capture some yellow ones which I hadn’t seen before. And the same seemingly harmless looking flower that I had befriended time and time again attacked me!
Well not the plant itself, but rather an infestation of practically invisible gnats (I later learned the Indians call them noseeums) and they bite!
When I reached down to take this shot I got them all over me. You can imagine the sight of me running around like a mad women trying to get them off of me. Needless to say I am not so keen on these flowers any more and will be very wary of capturing their photo in the future.
What about you? Have you had any photo drama?
I wish you had taken a picture of the rattlesnake! haha
Fun read, Andi! I thought you were going to say you fell head first into a patch of stickers. A rattlesnake is much more impressive. You are a trooper.
the pictures are beautiful!
Arkansas has a lot of rattlesnakes too. They usually do hear us and move on, but there is that accidental meeting that can be very dangerous, especially if you are far from a hospital. I think you are doing great with your photography.
Oh my goodness! The rattle would have scared me off from all nature macros forever.
Nice shots though.
I would have been moving, too, if I heard a rattle! Your photos are beautiful, though! You remind me a lot of my daughter in this. She also likes photography, and I often have her photograph my flowers. She bends and twists to try to get unique angles or closer petals.
I’m glad I’m not alone. There are people out there as clutzy as I am. This post cracked me up. I think I would be on my husband’s shoulders the rest of the way I came across a rattlesnake. I love taking pictures, but I can’t think of any mishaps – surprisingly.
I once tried to take a macro shot of a cupcake and got frosting all over my lens! No matter how hard I tried to clean it, it was never the same and I had to get a new camera.
@Amber, that is definitely something that could happen to me too! My hubby put a special cover on my lens because he knows it is inevitable that I will do that in the future!
@Sherry, thanks! Hopefully your daughter will stay safe taking those photos!
@Jennie, I will be far more careful from now on!
wow, that was close………..glad nothing happen
Love the monkey picture (and yes, I know it’s really an ape).
nice shots! <3
Hmmm…photo misadventures…can’t think of anything in particular, but I’m sure they’ve happened. I DO know that, especially when using a macro lens, sometimes I am looking through the camera and not around me, so I tend to either bump my head or the camera on things as I come in too close! I have also taken some photos of bees and other insects that very generously took pity and decided not to harass me for snapping their photo.
I think I would of left then and there if I saw or heard a rattlesnake. You were brave to continue on.
Those pictures are magazine cover material… beautiful! Sorry to hear about the noseeums, though… and that sound of a rattle… oh my, I would have totally freaked out! Katharina
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Nice photos =) But the process in which you had to get them are a totally different story. >.<
I love nature and like taking pics, but yeah I hate snakes. I live in the country by the woods and we get a lot of snakes in the yard and even had one in the basement. needless to say I hate going to the basement anymore.