The Winter Wildlife Photography Problem
I’d been scanning January nature events, hoping to find something worth photographing. The New Jersey Audubon Happy New Year Hike at Hawk Rise Sanctuary caught my eye, but after researching it, the reality became clear: the birds I’d expect to see there—cardinals, juncos, white-throated sparrows—are the same ones visiting my Montgomery Township backyard daily.
I’ve been chasing mammal photography on and off for years. Fox kits once played in my back yard but that was over a decade ago. Now? Nothing. I have heard coyotes howling in the woods near the tennis courts late at night. Very late at night. Maybe that’s why I don’t see any foxes anymore. I’ve hiked the Sourland Mountain Preserve dozens of times—dawn, dusk, midday—looking for fox, coyote, even wild turkeys. Despite a decade of birding photography, I’ve seen red-tailed hawks exactly twice.
Unless I want to photograph various species of waterfowl at Abbott Marshlands, January through March represents a genuine photographic dead zone in central New Jersey. The spring bird migration won’t arrive until April. Driving to distant locations like the Pine Barrens for more diversity without specific intelligence is impractical.
White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) · October 27, 2023 · FujiFilm X-T3 · XF150-600mmF5.6-8 R LM OIS WR
The uncomfortable truth about wildlife photography in suburban Central New Jersey: the animals exist in theory, but encountering them is entirely different. I think success requires inside knowledge of den sites, private land access, or extraordinary luck. My luck sucks. Random hiking, even at optimal times, yields remarkably little beyond deer and squirrels. In this area, the deer and squirrels are so acclimated to humans that I don’t consider them wild anymore. I still wouldn’t walk up to a deer buck though. Dangerous shit there.
So I’m pivoting. I’ve trained with Don Komarechka through Princeton Photo Workshop on winter macro photography—snowflakes, ice formations, frost patterns. It’s achievable in my own yard when conditions align. Perhaps winter will surprise me with proper snow for landscape work at historic sites.
Sometimes accepting what’s realistic matters more than chasing what’s merely possible.
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