What Wildlife Photographers Do Before the Shot

A well known wildlife photograph, the kind that wins awards and gets reprinted for decades, usually represents a fraction of a second chosen out of days, sometimes weeks, spent sitting in the same uncomfortable position waiting for an animal that may never appear. The photographer does not know if today is the day. They show up as though it is, every day, until eventually it is.

This is easy to romanticize once the photograph exists, and much harder to sit inside while it is happening. Nothing about the waiting looks productive from the outside. There is no visible skill being exercised while a person sits motionless in a blind for the eleventh consecutive hour, no evidence that the patience is building toward anything at all.

What separates the photographer who eventually gets the shot from the one who gives up on day nine is usually a longer tolerance for the part of the process that produces nothing to show for itself, held for exactly long enough that the moment, when it finally comes, has someone there to receive it.

This Week's Artifact:

Ego Is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday. A book about the unglamorous middle of any long pursuit, where humility, patience and steady work matter more than recognition. It pairs well with anything that asks you to keep showing up before there is anything to show for it.

 If someone came to mind while reading this, feel free to forward it

_____________

I’m Gregorio Sanchez, founder of The Compound Life and father of four daughters. I write about how small daily choices in health, mindset, and productivity compound into clarity and purpose.