I decided to make another trip to the Dagmar Wildlife Management Area, which is a relatively short drive from my house. When I got up that morning, I didn’t really have a clear idea of exactly what I wanted to photograph, and nothing was really coming to mind as I was driving along.
But, as I drove along, I came up with what for me was a very novel idea. I would visit one specific location and spend time really exploring the area. The goal would be to create more inspiring and creative images even if that meant I took a fewer number of pictures. I decided I would try implementing this approach at Gator Pond, which is about a five to ten minute drive into Dagmar.
Coming upon the entrance road, I drove through something I hadn’t really anticipated: a large cloud of flying insects. I don’t know what they were, but I immediately realized that I had not planned for the possibility of mosquitos. Then, I thought that maybe, just maybe, I would get lucky, and the mosquitos wouldn’t be too bad.
Arriving at Gator Pond a few minutes before sunrise, I noticed there was a relatively thick bank of clouds above the horizon. However, there was a break in the cloud cover that I thought might let some of rising light to shine through and provide some color to the sky.
I parked a few feet from the pond and watched the sky as it grew brighter and brighter. I took the opportunity to get my camera set up and ready to go. Finally, as if out of nowhere, an explosion of color appeared. I grabbed my tripod and jumped out. I was ready to go!
But, it wasn’t just me who was ready. So were the hundreds, maybe thousands, of ravenous mosquitos, and it didn’t take very long for them to realize an all you can eat breakfast buffet had shown up!
Setting my tripod up, I did my best to annoy the buzzing of the distracting little bugs. But, there was no question that they had devised a very coordinated plan of attack. One group would buzz around my face. As soon as I started to swat them away, another group would go for the back of my neck. Swat at my neck, and a third group would go for my arms. It was a war of attrition with billions of them against one of me. Well, there weren’t billions of them, but it sure seemed like it!
It didn’t take long before I decided a strategic retreat was my best option for maintaining my sanity. But, I was able to capture this image as the morning dawned over Gator Pond.