Featured Photos from Brad Manchas
I am interested in all types of photography from motor sports to events and
weddings. But only one genre is my true love and that is capturing images of
birds and wildlife. I could give up all the others but never the sitting
quietly some place in the wild and watching the antics and activities of
those animals that surround us. Every single time I an out shooting there is
always a "wow" moment, a scene where very few have had the pleasure of
witnessing, like sharing a river bank with an otter as it eats its lunch of
a cutthroat trout. Or seeing a vole evade and escape a spectacular swoop
from a Rough-legged Hawk from 10 feet away.
Living in southwestern Washington state places me less than an hour from the
Pacific Flyway and the almost unbelievable migrations that roll through
twice a year. An hour the other direction into the Cascade mountain range
and the species we don't find here in the lowlands. In the last 3 years I
have traveled well over 90,000 miles to try to capture one species or
another and I don't regret a single mile or minute of it. But even my
backyard has had over 70 species stop by at one time or another through
the year and it seems I get another couple species each year. Planting
native plants the birds use, supplying water and some seed during the
winters has certainly helped, and I hope to break the century mark sometime soon.
Visit Brad's web site to enjoy more of his photographs.