Sometimes You get Lucky

When we were in Death Valley National Park this past week, I had something really awesome happen to me. As my dad and I were driving from one part of the park to the other, we passed a coyote walking up the road in the opposite direction. I'm not much of a wildlife photographer, but I figured it would be worth the picture. So we stopped in the middle of the desolate road and turned around. By the time we were facing the other direction, I looked out the windshield and saw... the same coyote, running back towards our car. It proceeded to sit politely about 5 feet from my window, waiting for me to feed it something. He didn't seem to mind when I switched lenses twice to get a variety of different shots. And at one point, when I had the 100mm f/2.8 macro lens out, he yawned, timing it perfectly with my burst shooting.




Aperture: f/5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/160
ISO: 100
Focal Length: 100mm
Handheld





Aperture: f/2.8
Shutter Speed: 1/400
ISO: 100
Focal Length: 100mm
Handheld


So let's stop for a moment and list all of the things that converged for these lucky shots:

1) We saw a coyote
2) This coyote had been fed, and was therefore extremely tame
3) I was within easy reach of my camera gear
4) It was overcast, in Death Valley (which happens maybe once a year), providing bright, but very diffuse light
5) It was 78°F outside, rather than 120°F, which I suspect is why the coyote was out in the first place
6) He yawned just like that exactly when I had my best lens on for the job.

I couldn't have planned for better conditions. Thank you, nature.