Knowing When To Let Go...

When I first got into photography, it was nature and wildlife that held my interests. There are colors in the world that you can only find in nature. It cannot be done any better by Behr or Sherwin Williams. It can't even be matched.

I spent several years going out and wandering through woods, forests, swamps, fields... hiking along rivers and streams and oceans. It was where I felt most at peace - even if it was 120 degrees in the shade and I was lost - and I got lost a lot! I improved at preparing for such outings, like remembering to pack water and snacks and my cellphone, and then remembering to put my phone on vibrate so it didn't go off at the most critical of moments leaving me with a shot of a bird's feet at the top of my frame.

One of the most available subjects I came across was the Great Blue Heron. I would sit and watch them as they slowly and deliberately waded through shallow waters, stalking fish and small crustaceans (I later learned that these birds are incredible hunters and predators - and will eat anything - snakes, fish, shrimp, rodents, kittens, other birds :-0) and then striking with relentless speed and force. They would gulp down their catch and then go right back to calmly and steadily stalking and wading.

One day, as I ventured along the intracoastal waterway in the Guana Preserve in St. John's County, Florida, I came across this GBH struggling with a manta shrimp. As worthy an opponent as it was, it lacked intuition that would have clued it in to the optimum moment to let go.

I have to be honest - I was rooting for the shrimp... if it had just let go at this precise moment it may have lived to see another day. But it hung on... and the rest is history.

We all have intuition. Don't ignore it. Know when to let go of something that only serves to bring and hold you down.