Tricia Neill sometimes spends hours on the dock, surrounded by York River marshlands, watching the birds, frogs and other critters.
When an egret joins the mix – poised to perform its daily chore of sneaking up on snacks or a meal – Neill perks up.
Click, click, click.
Miles to her south, Sandra Snider is in a boat, tooling along the shores of Back Bay.
Eying every inch of fallen trees and high grass, her camera sits in her lap, at the ready for something that strikes her.
She notices a turtle and pulls up her camera.
Click, click, click.
Neill and Snider don’t know each other.
But they share a kinship – one being joined by hundreds of other women who have grown fond of wildlife photography.
They have their cameras, computers and a deep or growing passion for the art form.
A joyful mindset lives in their mirrored mentality of loving Mother Nature and all it provides. Bringing it to life in a photo is icing on the cake.
While they have no trouble taking pictures of family and friends, it’s their fondness of life’s other inhabitants that casts them in a special place.
“It’s been crossing my mind,” Snider said of the increasing number of female counterparts. “Some of us just grew up that way. Others are getting involved.”
Snider, in part, credited gains in women’s rights and mentality as reasons for the movement that is bringing more and more lady photographers into focus.
“For a long time, women have wanted to do things,” she said. “It’s a feeling of ‘I love this and I want to do this.’
“More and more women are enjoying (taking pictures).”
As a board member at the Virginia Beach Art Center, Snider went to college to study graphic design. Photography was a lifelong hobby, but one that quickly picked up speed.
Neill started dabbling with picture-taking decades ago and the notion of doing more really sank in when she and her husband were fishing in Panama.
“I took pictures of the jumping fish being caught, entered one in a contest and won a pair of Costa del Mar sunglasses,” she said.
When the Covid scare took hold, she found herself with more time to explore nature’s offerings, and a rapidly growing hobby blossomed into something more serious.
“I took a class in high school and have always had a camera,” she said. “Then equipment started getting better and better, and things really opened up.
“And I really started to be more aware of all the things around me. I mean, for years I had no idea we had bald eagles right around where we live.”
An eagle’s splendor aside, the creature that really clicks her shutter is an egret. And the marsh-filled shores on the western side of the Chesapeake Bay is pretty good place to see them.
“The way they sit, like a statue, waiting for a fish to make a mistake, their feathers and fluff – I just love them. I like all of it, but there’s something about an egret.”
Both women have enjoyed advancements in equipment and computers. But in a world that used to be dominated by men, they have that special something few others can boast.
A third eye.
No, not the cartoonish vision of an extra seeing device in the middle of their forehead, but the one that makes its home in their minds.
People see scenes differently. Those with that special knack look at the same thing and visualize a better way to capture the moment.
Camera addicts find themselves living deep in that special world.
Their mindset is a big reason why people look at a great picture and marvel in how it was taken.
The lighting, the clarity, the subject, the positioning.
But as more ladies join the fray, these two worry about what some see as too many technological advances.
“A.I. (artificial intelligence) and the things that people can do on a computer,” Snider said. “The future is coming way too fast. And the things you can do on your cell phone.
“How do you explain to a novice that what they are seeing isn’t a real photo?”
Their concerns aside, the two women will continue to love the art and enjoy the opportunities our region provides. Taking pictures is in their DNA and their love for photography has become far more than a good picture.
And just think about where they both live – surrounded by water, areas filled with birds, fish, woods, fields filled with deer, turkey and flowers. There’s definitely no shortage of things to attract that extra eye of a wildlife photographer.
“It’s perfect,” Snider said.
To read more of my work, go to: leetolliveroutdoors.com
