Where The Wild Things Are

Where The Wild Things Are. One of many ,a favorite children book Of mine.

It’s also where I love to spend a majority of my time.

Outside. Clear skies or Rainy. Pollen making me sneeze 8x in a row or not. Beautiful hikes, picnics with my family and the tiny or large creatures that live out there ,where the wild things are , it is my favorite place to be .

Equally my favorite place to capture their furry ,scaly or feathery beauty and adorable state of being.

For our 10 year anniversary my husband gifted me a Canon Rebel T7i and while I have had DSLR and other digital cameras in the past even after having this camera for a year I am still learning more about it and everything I can do with the settings. I’m far from a professional but would call myself a hobby photographer.

Learning new settings and attempting to learn the best lens to capture these beautiful beings hasn’t stopped me from capturing some of the most captivating and magical images of local and not so local wildlife, that I have had the pleasure of seeing in person, and through my lens.

My first taste of wildlife photography came from this majestic feathery fellow.

Pre-canon camera .

6.5 years ago when we had fist moved to the Oregon coast.

My son was just barely a month old and my daughter a little over a year. We were driving along the beach and I thought at first he was another turkey vulture. Then realized indeed this beautiful feathered gentleman was a bald eagle enjoying some sea snacks and hoping for a fish.

This wasn’t my last encounter with one of these magnificent feathery friends. I was lucky enough to see another at the Oregon zoo last year in 2020.

After my first eagle encounter I quickly fell in love with wildlife photography and started taking any and every opportunity to take photos of anything. Small or large that may go unnoticed or otherwise unseen by myself and others , but nevertheless should be appreciated.

A good majority of my photos are from paying attention to details around me, taking some spur of the moment opportunities ,family outings and in the end being the right place at just the right time.

I‘ve been fortunate enough to have the experience of moving around both in my childhood and as an adult and because of that I have gathered a small collection of wildlife photography that I have came to love and enjoy sharing with others.

As my kids have grown we have made a routine out of park trips, beach trips when we lived on the Oregon Coast and family hikes , or as we call them mini adventures. My love for animals and my husbands ability to get nearly any animal to like him has indeed rubbed off on our kids meaning those family adventures have no shortage of admiration of the beautiful creatures we share our homes and lives with.

Enter the Oregon Swallowtail Rescue Escapade.

This butterfly didn’t start out as a model. He started out as a patient. my daughter found him struggling on the side of a road on our walk home from the park.

The most I knew about butterflys at the time was that they needed some sort of nectar or sugar water similar to bees, we got him home in a empty Starbucks Cup that had water in it earlier then got him sugar water . I soon found myself googling different types of butterfly’s native to oregon and how to help them when exhausted or injured.

My daughter was ecstatic at our efforts to save him , we took some quick photos ,watched it drink and then set him outside on the lid of the container I used for the sugar water. Sadly I hadn’t noticed his severe abdomen injury on the bottom of his body and underside, after death we noticed that it appears a bird tried to make a snack out of him.

It created some wonderful memories and taught my kids the lesson to try and help even when it may not always have the outcome you desired. He had a oregon sunset funeral and a finally resting place in our garden .

Speaking of our garden , did you know kids have the most unconditional love. They don’t see things like adults and that is incredibly refreshing more often than it isn’t.

One of my kids many obsessions as a toddler turned to snails, rather quickly and semi-aggressively I may add. The disappointment and anger of not being able to admire a snail crossing the porch before leaving to the store was shocking but admirable. As an adult you get so caught up in life your forget about the little things and for some kids that includes ”gross” snails.

Those routine walks to the park suddenly took 15 minutes longer there and back because we were making sure not to step on any snails or really anything that might be alive down there, yes even ants.

& if the curiosity crossed your mind yes a toddler will absolutely cry if you step on a ant, at least mine would at that point in life.

This obcession led to some beautiful pictures of my children though and also introduced me to macro photography.

Introducing the tiniest snail you’ve ever seen and has ever graced me with their existence.

There’s really very few animals that we won’t hang out with while not all are holdable they are still lovely and fun to admire and spend time around !

One of my favorites I got to see almost daily. They are fluffy tailed , fast and elusive.

I live in Washington now so snow isnt a thing unless you’re up north on a mountain or near the Canadian border. We get the occasional snow here and there but nothing blanketed. Our March surprise snow allowed me to capture some fantastic shots of these marvelous adorable little tree dwellers.

My own backyard and adventures with my family make me love and enjoy photography even more , however sometimes a change in scenery is nice and with COVID traveling is definitely not on the agenda right now.

Luckily just before covid hit the US , and state lockdowns as well as mask mandates and layoffs happened. My daughter was able to celebrate her 8th birthday in February 2020 and we were able to make a zoo trip happen.

Her favorite animal, the cheetah. She has made a point to educate herself and others on cheetahs and I think she would be slightly disappointed if I didn’t use this time and article to also let you know something very close to her heart and something that is needed throughout the world is cheetah conversation.

Cheetahs are currently classified as vunerable on the endangered species list.

Cheetahs face extinction pressure from climate change, hunting by humans and habitat destruction , these have seriously limited the size of their population. You can learn more and help atabilize cheetah populations by going to

https://cheetah.org

Also if you have kids of your own Chris and Martin Kratt, have been long time advocates for wildlife of all kinds and species including cheetahs. For my own generation I knew them from the popular show Zaboomafoo, something that if its on I will still sit down and happily watch. Thankfully they have continued their legacy and advocacy for wildlife for the newer generations in their T.V show and movies Wild Kratts a half animated half live action show that educates and entertains in equality.

You can follow them on Twitter here

https://www.Twitter.com/thekrattbros

Another wonderful resource for kids is national geographic kids website!

We were slightly disappointed at the zoo trip but the disappointment didn’t last ,however the lions and tigers were hiding and the polar bear exhibit was under construction which just recently reopened this year in 2021.

We didn’t let it stop us from getting a unforgettable visit with the cheetahs though.

I even got a , in my opinion , once in a lifetime shot of them when he or she looked directly at me and my daughter.

Definitely the best birthday present she’s gotten according to her anyway.

Though I doubt it needs said this made her day , she definitely would of pet it had someone let her and she didn’t want to leave and I have to add for myself I would of loved to of been on the other sid of that glass but am thankful it was so clean because it allowed me to capture some beautiful memories and a great shot of her favorite animal in the feline family.

Sometimes changing the way you think can change your life.

I think the same goes for changing how you look can change your adventure all together.

at least that’s what happened when my husband and I went mudding in his truck and got stuck with no one to help us.

if that hadn’t of happened though I never would of gotten to have the adorable interaction and chance to capture this tiny little guy.

A baby frog, tree frog maybe ?he was spotted in Oregon and was almost as small as a blade of grass. Not quite though but pretty close. He was moved to safety after this photo Of him was captured. I’m still amazed by him every time I look back on it. Had we just been mudding I never would of seen him, had this photo and we may of even caused his demise. Which would of been heartbreaking, however never known of. I am thankful for when things go wrong it gives chance for something else to go right.

The early bird gets the worm.

Its the same for photographers , well sometimes anyway.

I know if you want to capture these quick feathery fellows you have to be up early , bright eyed and bushy tailed to catch them.

As I have mentioned previously sometimes the best models are right in my backyard.

And of course sometimes out my window instead of the yard , though then a lot of times I am able to catch nature trying to be nature ,As well as my cats disdain for being a indoor only cat with a screen being between her and what she wishes to be her next meal.

And for a good old throwback a photo I took ages ago in my old backyard on my iPod touch.

I think we underestimate the cuteness of farm animals far too often and easily. In 2019 pre-covid we were able to plan a family trip to a local pumpkin patch. There , they had a petting zoo and there was the most adorable cow who was so ready for her moment in front of the camera.

The circle of life. Animals,mammals , marine life if all lives and dies at sometime, as sad as that is to face and while not everyone would consider this wildlife or a animal I do. This was my first encounter with tiny or as I call them baby sand dollars. My sister and I found these on a trip when she was visiting.

The beaches are not shy from giving you memories , relaxation and beautiful photos to take home, this gorgeous photo of starfish and barnacles was captured in Cannon Beach Oregon at Ecola.

Now it’s time to return to my backyard with my most recent move. I was surprised while moving boxes that we have as tree house resident. A baby / young raccoon. He decided to say hi while welcoming us to the neighborhood. We are happy to share our tree with him.

I even managed to capture a video of him !

How can anyone resist capturing that little mask and those wiggly ears?!

Now I wait paitiently for our next adventures and or my next fun spur of the moment visit from a cute living being that deserves to be admired,loved and their beauty shared with others.

While no visible wildlife can be seen I want to close this article with a beautiful landscape photo of the bottom of Mt.St.Helens 2 years ago . While there isnt any animals within site.

I like to think on that dash while the sun set ,the air and ground cooling off and the wind calming that beneath the soil there was plenty of life, small birds were returning to their nests for the night , while snakes, mice and other animals got cozy for the night and the others that come out to go bump in the night were just waking up in preparation for the new night waiting for them.

Thank you so much for reading this article ! If you enjoyed it please leave as Heart below. Shares and tips are always appreciated but never expected.