When You Fail, Just Admit It; Then Work Hard To Succeed The Next Time

I consider these first four images my only successes on this trip. (click any image to enlarge)
This great blue heron was down in a small canal feeding.  It was about 30 minutes after sunrise
and a shaft of light was coming in from the left, lighting only this small patch of ground.  Luckily
for me, the heron was standing right in the patch of light.  As soon as I rolled the window down in my
car, the heron took flight.  I was able to capture six images but in the final two, the heron's head was out of focus.
Olympus E-M1 Mark II, 40-150mm f/2.8 lens + 1.4x tele-converter @ 210mm; 1/1600th sec. @ f/4.5; ISO 250

Last weekend was my annual "wildlife weekend," a trip that friends and I take in November or December to photograph migrating waterfowl, birds, raptors and other miscellaneous wildlife we find on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.  This year, my friends weren't able to take the trip so I thought I would go anyway.  I'll admit up front that my wildlife photography efforts were largely a failure, again, this year.  So what is new?

My philosophy with most things is that when I fail, I readily admit to the failure, get past the disappointment, get any denial out of the way, accept responsibility for my failures, move on, then assess and analyze why I failed.  No sense in self-denial.  That doesn't help you improve.  

Finally, I don't let the failure get me down and cause me to quit.  No, I'm pretty stubborn and, armed with my new found knowledge of why I failed, I jump back in to take another crack at success.  The only problem with my wildlife photography, is that I continue to fail year after year.  I want to be clear that my photographic gear was not the source of my failures.  I have used the same gear over the past years and have had some wonderful successes.  No, the failure in getting the images I wanted last weekend is entirely on me.  No excuses.  I should give up at wildlife photography but I won't—can't.

Over the past several years, the number of snow geese, Canada geese, ducks, ibis, cormorants, teals and other types of waterfowl and shorebirds have continued to diminish at our favorite photographic spot—Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge on Assateague Island.  This year it seemed even fewer of these birds were present.  The only birds in abundance this year were the usual varieties of egrets and herons.  I did not see a single snow goose, Canada goose, bufflehead, morganser, cormorant, or ibis.  I saw plenty of mallards, a couple of other species of duck and about 100 or so tundra swans.  Slim pickings for the Atlantic Flyway, a major migration route for birds.

One of the few that nailed focus with my X-T2 and
100-400mm lens (click to enlarge)
1/500th @ f/5.6; @400mm; ISO 3200

I took two kits of gear mainly because I don't have a backup camera for either.  I took my Fujifilm X-T2 and used the 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 lens with and without the 1.4x tele-converter as well as my Olympus E-M1 Mark II, using the 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO lens with and without its matched 1.4x tele-converter.  I've have extensively used both in the past with good success, but this year almost all of my Fujifilm images are slightly out of focus.  Focus just missed by a hair, but missed none the less.  I don't think it is the gear.  It is because of me and my technique, I believe.  I tried AF-S with a single point, smallest to largest size.  I tried C-AF with single point and zone focusing at different sizes also.  For some reason, no matter what I tried, this year I just couldn't get the camera to focus dead on.  I have no idea as to why.  It did lock on to a few mallards flying away during a test, but for whatever reason I missed focus on birds standing still—over and over again.  Doesn't make sense, does it?  Shutter speeds were sufficient to eliminate camera shake.  IS was on.  The camera was being supported on a beanbag much of the time on the top edge of my car window.  (The birds were really skiddish this year and even getting out of the car at a distance caused them to fly.  I adapted by staying in the car and I used a beanbag on top of my partially rolled down window.)

On the other hand, after switching systems to ascertain if I would have better success, I did have much better luck with the Olympus. It seemed to lock on and stay locked on, whether the birds were standing in water or on the wing.  My intention for the weekend was to not use the Olympus at all, as I only brought it as a backup, and to really put the X-T2 through the ringer with its new firmware, which is said to focus twice as fast as before.  It focused fast, but it missed the focus.  Again, I have no idea as to why.  I'm going to test it around here this week to again, gather more information and discover for sure what was the cause of missing focus so often.

After failing over and again the first day, I retired the X-T2 and engaged the E-M1 Mark II for the rest of the trip.  It performed admirably.  The only problem was my 40-150mm f/2.8 + the 1.4x tele-converter didn't give me enough reach much of the time.  I needed longer focal lengths.  Many of the images shown here that were made with the Olympus are almost shown at a 100% crop.  I needed 600mm or more much of the time.

Olympus E-M1 MK II, 40-150mm f/2.8 lens + 1.4x tele-
converter @ 210mm; 1/250th sec. @ f/5.6; ISO 1000
(click to enlarge)

All that being said, I left Chincoteague feeling as though the weekend was largely a failure.  A failure for several reasons.  A failure by me in not getting my X-T2 to focus properly.  A failure because the dearth of birds was evident and a failure because I really missed the camaraderie of my friends.

But there is next year!  I'll be back trying again remembering the lessons I've learned and hoping to better my success due this year's mistakes.  I know I'll be more successful next year.  I just know it.


Here is a saying that I've repeated many times over the years to others when they needed to pick themselves up and try again.

 "Good, Better Best, Never Let It Rest, Until Your Good Is Better, And Your Better Is Best"

                          Tim Duncan

I don't consider the following images as being successful.  Most are almost 100% crops as the birds were very far away.  Noise levels were high and in a couple I had to work hard to make them "look" sharp.

Olympus E-M1 MK II, 40-150mm f/2.8 lens + 1.4x tele-
converter @ 210mm; 1/320th sec. @ f/5.6; ISO 200
About a 100% crop of the original
 (click to enlarge)

Olympus E-M1 MK II, 40-150mm f/2.8 lens + 1.4x tele-
converter @ 210mm; 1/200th sec. @ f/8; ISO 200
About a 100% crop of the original
(click to enlarge)

Olympus E-M1 MK II, 40-150mm f/2.8 lens + 1.4x tele-
converter @ 210mm; 1/400th sec. @ f/5.6; ISO 200
About a 100% crop of the original
(click to enlarge)

Fujfilm X-T2, 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 lens @ 400mm; 1/500th sec. @ f/5.6;
ISO 800; Again, about 100% crop
(click to enlarge)

Fujfilm X-T2, 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 lens @ 400mm; 1/500th sec. @ f/5.6;
ISO 2500; Again, about 100% crop
(click to enlarge)

Failure doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing.  If you try to do something and fail, at least you know what doesn't work.  You have learned something and can move forward.

Thanks for looking. Enjoy! 

Dennis A. Mook 

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