Get the Picture

Isabel helps her dad, Michael Durham, take all sorts of amazing photographs of wild animals. Here she answers more of Ranger Rick's questions about what that's like. (See this month's Ranger Rick for the full story).

---

Ranger Rick asks and Isabel answers:

RR: How long have you been helping your dad with his photography?

Isabel: As long as I can remember.

RR: What do you like most about helping him?

Isabel: Going to cool places and learning about insects and other animals.

RR: The least?

Isabel: Checking my shoes--for big spiders in the morning when we go camping and finding one!

RR: What does your dad like most about your help?

Isabel: He likes it when I catch bugs and get them in the right spot for him to photograph.

RR: What has been your most fun experience?

Isabel: A bat shoot that we did with bat biologists on a very dark night. I learned a lot about bats. I got to pet a bat. I got to watch the bats fly around because the biologists attached a glowing light to them, and we could see them when they flew up in the trees. I learned how fast bats can fly and about how they use something called echolocation to see in pitch darkness. I think it's cool that all the biologists were women, and they weren't afraid to catch bats. Maybe I could do something like they do when I grow up.

RR: What was your scariest time?

Isabel: Being close to a wild rattlesnake.

RR: The funniest?

Isabel: When we were photographing a frog. I had to put it on a rock, but it kept leaping away. I had to keep bringing it back. Then one time it jumped out of my hands and landed on my head!

RR: How are you most helpful to your dad?

Isabel: Sometimes I see things my dad doesn't, and I point them out to him. He says I'm very observant.

RR: Do you ever get bored helping?

Isabel: Yes. Sometimes things take too long. My dad sometimes works on the same picture for days.

RR: Do you ever get frustrated?

Isabel: Yes. Sometimes bugs don't do what you want them to.

RR: What about angry?

Isabel: Yes. And that's when I just go do something else.

RR: Do you ever take nature photos of your own?

Isabel: Yes. I have my own digital camera, and I love to take pictures of my cats. They're named Meeka and Abby--or Abby, the Big Fat Tabby. But the cats often walk away from the camera, so I only get pictures of their butts.

 

Illustration by Jack Desrocher