Seals, Holyrood

Again, this morning I chose three photos, taken seconds apart, to illustrate the concept of taking more than one photo of the same subject. Today, however, it is an entirely different situation and shows a series of photos that are in sequence.

The first photo shows a seal that was getting a little nervous as I approached, camera in hand. Finally it moved to the edge of the ice and slipped into the frigid ocean. These photos were taken in Holyrood, just minutes from my house.

Here's what I do when photographing animals. I take a few photos from a distance just to make sure I get at least one photo of the animal. Then I slowly take a few steps closer, take more photos. I continue until I get enough photos, or the animal gets too nervous and leaves (usually the latter). Of course I remain as quiet as possible and don't make any sudden moves while using this technique.

There is another lesson in today's photos. The third photo in the sequence makes sense when viewed after the others. However if I showed the last photo only, many people would wonder what it was. The lesson is that some photos are not really successful if shown alone, but can be used when others provide enough information for the photo to make sense to the viewer.