Page 38 - 2019 MAR/APR Outdoor Oklahoma

JEREMIAH ZURENDA/ODWC of success. On this particular day, the sheer number of
birds on the mudflat meant there were a lot of chances to
get a photo I was happy with.”
For most photos, Zurenda says another story can be
told from behind the lens.
“When I look at a photo I’ve taken, it pulls me right back
to the memory of getting the shot. I can tell you if I was
standing knee-deep in water, had to wade through tall
grass, or if I ended up with chigger bites after getting the
shot I was hoping for.”
For his series of sandpiper photos, Zurenda remem-
bers the challenge of approaching his subjects without
disturbing the flighty birds.
“We were on a lunch break when we first spotted the
sandpipers about 300 yards away. I grabbed my camera
and facemask to blend in with the landscape and started
walking toward the mudflat. When I was 75 yards from
the birds, I started crawling on hands and knees. Forty
yards out, I started belly crawling in the mud until I got to
the water’s edge. By then, the birds were only about 25
yards away.”
Zurenda waited in the hot sun as the birds continued
feeding closer.
“I laid there long enough that sweat was getting in my
eyes under the mask I was wearing. But it was worth it.
The birds kept coming and some eventually got so close
that my camera couldn’t focus on them; they were closer
than 7.6 feet!”
“After a few shots, I noticed one of the birds would
jump a few inches out of the water when I would hit the
shutter release. So I spent some time with the camera
focused on that bird. It took a little bit of patience, but I
was finally able to time the shot just right.”

JEREMIAH ZURENDA/ODWC

Semipalmated sandpiper at Hackberry Semipalmated sandpiper at Hackberry
Flat WMA. Flat WMA.

36 OUTDOOR OKLAHOMA

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