Raccoon
Jun, 2016Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photo in our back yard in western Washington state. We have had a recurring problem with wild raccoons getting onto our porch at night to eat our cat food, but we rarely see them during the day. This one was particularly curious and seemed to be VERY photogenic.Time
This photo is one of the main reasons I get so many photo opportunities, to this day, because it was only a couple weeks after I got my camera and I had the mindset of 'photo opportunities presenting themselves' which was the entirely wrong way to think about photography. It was about 11:00 AM and I was doing some work on my computer when our WiFi went out (which happens very frequently out here in 'the sticks') so out of boredom I went outside with my camera and no particular plans.Lighting
The lighting for this shot was set up naturally, it was a sunny day with thin clouds that diffused the light just enough create this effect.Equipment
This was taken with a Canon Rebel T5, with the stock 75-300mm f5.6 lens.Inspiration
I stepped out of our back door, and saw this raccoon on our back porch and started snapping pictures. I took about 100 photos over all, by taking 10 or so pictures and then inching closer to the porch. This was easily the best picture out of all of them.Editing
Usually, on a photo like this I would need to do a lot of editing, but on this particular photo everything looks fairly good. I only ended up making some slight adjustments and noise reduction in Lightroom.In my camera bag
The most important things for me to have in my bag are my camera body of course, and my favorite lens to have handy is my 75-300mm f5.6 because of its wide range in applications. It creates a very nice depth of field effect even with small distances, which makes it ideal for small objects like insects or flowers. I also always have my stock 18-55mm lens in my bag for landscape photography. After those, I would make sure to have my tripod, intervalometer, and extra SD cards.Feedback
Don't make the same mistakes that I did, photos don't just happen because they were there for you, they only happen when you seek the opportunities to take a picture you're proud of. Grab your camera, throw on your shoes, and go make those opportunities. If it means taking a break from playing games, procrastinating a little, or even taking a drive, it's the commitment you will need to become proud of your work.
