Have you ever had one of those moments where everything seems to line up perfectly and you have to pinch yourself to make sure you’re not dreaming. Well, that’s exactly what happened to me early one winter morning!

It was a cold morning, the mercury was hanging around 22 degrees, and there I sat waist deep in the middle of a river, in my floating blind. Yes, I had multiple layers on, but after hours of sitting in the icy water, the cold definitely gets to you. It’s times like that when I really question my sanity, or if the potential photo results of this outing was worth the potential for hypothermia. They usually were. 

The sun had just risen, it seemed as if a switch had been flipped. What was a silent landscape just moments before, now exploded with the sounds of countless species of ducks, more and more flying in by the minute. Green Winged Teals, Mallards, Northern Pintails, Goldeneyes, Coots, Gadwalls and so many others. Moments of utter chaos as I tried to photograph as many birds as possible in the beautiful morning light. This was one of those times where I had so many options, it was hard to decide what to focus on photographing. But then that all changed. A flash of deep red and light blue caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. I hadn’t seen the duck directly, but I knew exactly what it was. A Cinnamon Teal had just flown in!

Shifting my lens to the right, I focused on the aptly named, cinnamon colored duck and began to fire away. A quick wing flap exposed the magnificent blues and greens that usually stay hidden. Yes, it was a frigidly cold morning, but the shivering had stopped and the discomfort was quickly forgotten. Instead, I was consumed by the beauty of it all. Surrounded by countless ducks, stunning light illuminated the entire scene. This really was one of those magical moments when everything just lined up perfectly!