"I Can See For Miles and Miles..."
This is one of my favorites from my Mt Evans trip b/c the shoot was unexpected and out of my comfort zone. I parked at 14,000 feet, grabbed my landscape gear and hiked down to work on some landscapes. Suddenly, I spotted this Yellow-bellied Marmot foraging around a rock. My first instinct was to run back to my car for my long lens, but I didn't feel as though I had the time or the lungs at that altitude. Then I remembered reading Artie's words, "Try photographing a subject with a lens you would normally never use." I wasn't quite sure at that point how I was going to get close enough with a full frame camera and a wide angle lens. I crouched down low and walked as close as I dared and then got down on my belly. I traversed the remaining few yards crawling on my belly until I dared travel no farther. It was an intimidating precipice.
The Marmot seemed oblivious to my presence. I normally talk to my subjects, but I was actually too nervous to do so in this case, plus I was far too uncomfortable. All of a sudden, the Marmot got up on his hind legs as if to pose for me. I was able to get off a few shots in horizontal and vertical before he moved on. For this capture, I got my camera as close to the ground as possible and photographed upwards to move the Marmot's head out of the line of the horizon.
Canon 5D, Canon 24-105L @ 105mm
F22, 1/500sec, ISO 400, manual mode
Handheld and flat on my belly
C & C always welcomed and much appreciated.
Marina Scarr
www.marinascarrphotography.com
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Originally Posted by Morkel Erasmus
