Through the magical moment of connection that we establish between ourselves and the animals we are photographing, we can celebrate the wonders of wildlife. In doing so, we begin to reveal character and just like people, animals can be beautiful, they can be fearsome and sometimes, they can be cute and comical.

The Ruddy Duck it would seem has evolved as a Disney caricature of the cute and comical. They are quite common to Alberta and can be found on many of our sloughs and ponds. We’ve had a family on the pond behind our home for four years now and they add a smile to my face nearly every day. Bobble headed is probably the best description, but they are also colourful and tiny. They have a tail that sticks vertically, straight up and they have the brightest of blue bills. And then there is the males mating ritual – head bobbing, echo sounding and skittering across the water at high speed, they are beautiful, laughable and amazing.

Also amazing is the moose. It’s been said that a camel is a horse designed by a committee. If that’s so, what then what should be said of the moose? With the long legs of a giraffe, the body of a bison, an incomparable rack and a face that only a mother could love, the moose is the lord of the woods, beautiful, often majestic and occasionally comical.

The call of the wild can sometimes be heard as a chuckle. Explore a bit of the lighter side of wildlife photography.