On April 1, 2004, I was sitting having a cup of coffee and had just sent my kids on the bus to school. It was a clear, bright sunny day and the temperature was just above zero. I live in Alaska - no joke. Anywho, I had just glanced out the kitchen window and discovered that a moose was crossing the street behind my house and coming towards my neighbor's yard. I got excited and grabbed my camera and proceeded to shoot several frames (before I went digital) from my deck in my jammies and socks. He got bored and walked away.
I began my housework and went to take the trash out to the dumpster (across the parking area) and as I turned around to walk back to my house, there he was!!! No farther than about 6 feet away - just chomping on the tree in my neighbor's front yard. He just looked amused at my apparent state of shock. But he just kept eating. I couldn't breath and I was was frozen (both figuratively and literally - I hadn't bothered to put shoes on over my socks - just a quick jaunt right?) and I just ran into the house and threw on some clothes and went to my camera gear. I quickly inventoried my film, my lenses and both bodies.
My husband was surely fascinated to see me running around scrounging every last roll of film. I found a total of thirteen rolls; most 24 exposures, and a few 36 exposures. I threw everything into my truck, refilled my cup of coffee and grabbed my cell phone and an extra pack of batteries (just in case). I drove out of the garage and the moose was nowhere to be found. My heart sunk. I drove around one side of my block, nothing. I started to come back home when my hubby called and said the moose was on the other side and there was another moose with him. My heart started racing!!! I quickly drove over to the other side and there they were!!!! I hit the mother load!!! They were about 15 feet away and gorgeous!!!
I love moose! I think they are such awesome creatures and while a lot of people say they are simple, I think they are perfect! They live by instinct and they nurture their young and they are simply fabulous!!!
I began to shoot them, at first just a few at a time. It was so cold and I was dealing with fog on the lens. But I just watched them to see what they were going to do. They didn't seem to mind me sitting there at first; they just foraged and walked around. Then they decided to check out the other side of the block and I followed. Watching them was fascinating, it was obvious when they were communicating with each other and when one wanted to move, the other followed. So did I.
I spent that whole morning and early afternoon watching them and shooting them from my truck (through the moon roof, money well-spent) and across my hood. A couple of times I ventured close to them, took a few frames and then got scared to death! One of the best days I have ever had here in Alaska.
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