My wife and I headed to Lake Logan in the Hocking Hills Region of southeast Ohio yesterday to photograph great blue heron and egret. The lake has a good population of them.

We arrived at sunrise only to find that within minutes a local bass tournament started and boats went flying across the lake in every direction. Great! Heron took to the air and that was it. From there on out the birds were nervous and we could not get a shot.

After taking some shots of Canadian geese and a few ducks, we determined that fog on the water from the cold morning air was actually ruining every shot we took. With bass fisherman everywhere, we headed north to Pickerington Ponds.

The Day was Not A Complete Waste

At Pickerington Ponds we saw bald eagles and osprey scrapping in a territorial battle. They were too far away to photograph, but, the fight was entertaining and relatively harmless for all participants.

We did meet a group of local artists with their easels setup, all of them painting landscapes at one of the ponds (www.centralohiopleinair.com) . The founder of the group, a man named Bill Westerman, was really cordial and quite an interesting fellow. We had a good conversation and I took a few pictures that I shared with them. I hope our paths cross again.

We did take a few pictures at Pickerington Ponds before we left.

Here is a shot from the local inhabitants of Pickerington Ponds:

Be Flexible

Since our original plan for the day was a bust, we went with plan “B” and the morning turned out to be a really great experience. Not only did we meet some really interesting and talented people, we enjoyed great conversation, took some pictures, spotted the eagles, and headed home to enjoy a fantastic lunch and restful afternoon.

Always plan for the unexpected. It pays to have a backup plan. Just like it pays to bring enough gear that you can switch from wildlife to landscape photography if you don’t find your intended subject.

The Central Ohio Plein Air group posts video on their website. Here is a link provided by Bill Westerman:

Thank You, Mr. Westerman, for interesting conversation and a wonderful experience. We enjoyed meeting all of you.