Tale from a Hole in the Ground…
To photograph is to hold one’s breath, when all faculties converge to capture fleeting reality. It’s at that precise moment that mastering an image becomes a great physical and intellectual joy
Around the turn of the century I found myself down in South Texas participating in the world's richest wildlife photography competition. The task—to photograph 100 wildlife species, from mammals to birds to insects, etc; the purse—$100,000, portions of which would be paid to the top 3 winners in each category; the timing; 5 months from the beginning of February to the end of June (next week 20 years ago in fact).
Much of my photography was done in a pit blind, literally a hole in the ground with a structure built over it to conceal me from the outside world. It was my home for countless hours in the hot South Texas sun—my afternoon hide.
On the day that I photographed this magnificent coyote, as it shyly came to the water to drink, I recall a funny incident. I was sitting in my "hole" half dazed by the heat, struggling to stay awake as the boredom began to set in. There was no action this afternoon. I was brought back to life again when dirt started flying into the hole behind me. I thought perhaps the structure was going to cave in. As I looked around to discover the source of the disturbance I was greeted by a long snout and a pair of beady eyes. A mole had popped in for tea. I am not sure who was more surprised, the mole or I. As I carefully reached for my camera, he turned about face and disappeared.
The rest of the afternoon passed uneventfully until several minutes before sunset when the coyote appeared, bathed in the light of the setting sun. Not wanting to frighten the animal, I very slowly moved my camera and 600mm lens into position and snapped this image—just one frame and the coyote was gone. It was enough to be the winning entry in the Mammals section in the 2000 Valley Land Fund Wildlife Photography Competition!
Please feel free to browse some of the other images taken in the field during the 5 months that I was down there on and off. Some were photographed from a floating blind, others from my truck, and many simply walking in the brush (always mindful of snakes).
Click on any image below for further information like what, when, who, why, where
Nancy Hopwood
Caroline Walker
Elaine Radiss