Earning Trust

Might be worth a look in large.

We took my MIL and SIL out to brunch today and did a bit of shopping before they had to hit the road. The weather was sunny and crisp; a real treat after all of the rain we have had. It's so much nicer to show company around when the weather cooperates.

After they left, we stayed downtown for a little while. I made my way over to the river, camera in tow. The plan was to shoot waterfowl from one of the foot bridges. All went as planned and I got some nice images, but the mallards were mostly hanging out near an embankment rock formation. (A few years ago, the city placed large flat rocks in a stair step pattern along the eroding embankment to encourage people to use them instead of the loose earth at the river's edge.) I decided to risk moving closer to the mallards and slowly worked my way down the rocks. They were quite unsure of me and huddled together under a foliage overhang at the opposite end of the rocks... One at a time, one of the males would part from the group and float out to a better vantage point for keeping an eye on me. They took turns doing this over and over again. I just stayed still, made myself as small as I could, and quietly took pictures. Eventually two of the males got brave and swam along the rocks toward me (in a two car train-like formation). They made their way past me in a slow steady paddle... So close I could have touched them. I don't know what they were thinking, but it was very cute to witness. Of course, with my long lens on, I couldn't get an image at that point. But, the above shot was taken while the pair was working up the courage to test my trustworthiness... ;)