FIRESTONE, Colo. – This story started when this writer happened upon an epic composite photo showing an osprey – a large bird of prey – diving into the water at Colorado’s St. Vrain State Park.
But telling it led me to meet two photographers who taught me so much more than the way an osprey finds its next meal.
Behind the photos is a story of dedication to a craft, a deep love of nature and of creating meaningful connections.
Studying the subject
The ponds at St. Vrain State Park are regularly stocked with fish, including trout. This makes the park, located about 30 miles north of Denver in Firestone, a hot spot for osprey.
And, thus, it’s a great spot for photographers and bird enthusiasts who want to see them.
“One of the reasons that it is really cool for us photographers is [the osprey’s] method of hunting,” said Winslow Robbins, the photographer behind the dive sequence photo in question. “It does this really beautiful kind of circular, soaring pattern.”
Once it spots a fish, an osprey will dive at high speed – as fast as 50 mph – into the water to pluck the fish out.
"So the whole goal is to try to get the sequence of them coming into the water, hitting the water, and getting out of the water with a fish,” said Anita Wooldridge, a wildlife aficionado and loyal user of Denver7’s Discover Colorado | Through Your Photos group on Facebook. “A lot of people want to get the exact moment they hit the water, which is a real challenge.”
It’s a challenge accepted by this pair of photographers – and met with great dedication to studying the subject.
"It's really the perseverance and going out and doing it every day for a good length of time,” Anita said. “Sometimes you watch and don't even take a photograph for a while. Other times, you see patterns that develop over time, and then you're able to make a better choice of where you position yourself."
Winslow said he’s invested months in observing ospreys to refine his skills at photographing them.
"It took me probably four years of every single year spending a good solid two months trying to learn their habits [...] to finally get a series of images that are really high quality,” he said.
‘What I do is share a story’
A breathtaking set of photos in the camera roll or displayed online isn’t done just for bragging rights. These two photographers both told me it’s their way of storytelling.
Anita is a self-described “serious hobbyist” rather than a professional photographer. She has a degree in oceanography and started out in underwater photography before the mountains came calling.
She said she uses the medium to create connection between the viewer and the environment she loves so dearly.
“What I do is share a story. I want to make people have a connection to what I photograph to present some type of emotion, whether it's sad or happy or whatever,” she said. “But I feel if people see an animal or a situation, it gives them buy-in to help protect that environment and that animal."
Winslow started his professional photography career doing people photography: Weddings, portraits and commercial shoots. He said he loved telling people’s stories in a candid way – and wanted to apply the same principles to photographing the natural world, showing how animals interact with their surroundings.
"I think there are a lot of great lessons that most people can learn from the natural world,” he said. “[I want to be] able to capture them in ways that pique people's interest and make them want to learn more about the natural world and our place in it and the things that we can learn from it."
His goal to capture the dive sequence was rooted in teaching one of those lessons.
“I wanted to tell the story for people who may not see the full picture of what osprey hunting looks like,” he said.
Winslow spent the spring shooting osprey dives at high speed. The final products he shared with us is the result of as many as 20 images blended together in a single frame to show the process of a dive from beginning to end.
Colorado's photography community
This pair spoke of a “wild, rugged beauty” in Colorado and its unique environmental conditions that host a wide range of plant and animal wildlife.
It makes our state a photographer’s dream, and many share the passion for exploring it.
As it turns out, Anita and Winslow had met and developed a friendship years before they stepped in front of my camera at St. Vrain. Anita said similar connections are common in the wildlife photography community.
“It's a community that, for the most part, people will share and are very open, and you try to help each other out, because you all want to share a story,” she said. “We want you to embrace what's out there, and if you share it, then people care about it.”
- This story initially aired as part of a Denver7+ special presentation, Discover Colorado: Wildlife stories. Watch the full episode in the video player below: