Have you seen that commercial that takes place in the locker room of a professional football team where some goofy guy is submerged in the whirlpool bath so he can grab a jersey for a souvenir? Or how about the one where this doofus that's supposed to be a sign boy at golf tournaments, repeatedly acts like the pro golfers are all his best friends and just makes a pest of himself. Hey, wait a minute. Maybe I'm that doofus. Consider:

Some of you may have read my previous article on how my close, personal, friend John Shaw and I became best buds. Now my old pal John is a very friendly and gracious sort of guy out in the field, but it's funny how he always seems have a prior commitment when I'm about to suggest an evening of camaraderie. Of course, I understand that he's a busy, busy man but you'd think that just once, he would invite me over to his room for a little photo chitchat wouldn't you? But now that I think about it, he seems to have this habit of moving his camera to another location whenever I set up next to him. Hmmmm. You think he might be avoiding me? Nah, not ol' John. I'm sure he was just looking for a better angle.

The Venice Rookery in sunny Florida was the site of my next opportunity to hang with a pro. The sun had about done it's duty for the day and I was packing my gear back to the old pickup when I noticed a man with a long beard, just sitting in an old lawn chair, watching the birds; no camera, just binoculars. The closer I got, the more familiar he looked. "Hello", says I, "Is your name John Netherton by any chance?"

"Why, yes it is. What's your name?" he asked as he extended his hand.

Oh my gosh, it really was John Netherton, one of the premier nature photographers of the country. I owned two of his books. I even had one of them with me for inspiration.

"Uh, gee, Mr. Netherton, it's a real pleasure to meet you. Would you autograph my book?"

"Sure."

"Ummm, are you gonna publish any more books?"

"Yes, I'm working on one about frogs."

"Boy that sounds interesting. Say, why don't I get my chair and sit here beside you and talk a little photo talk? There's all kind of things I'd like to ask about how to become a pro."

"Well, I was planning on shooting some silhouettes while there's a little light left. Maybe I'll see you later."

"Sure, Mr. Netherton. See you around." Another new friend! What a thrill.

The Photographic Society of America is a wonderful organization for novice and experienced photographers alike. Lectures, competitions, and workshops provide valuable information to enhance the photographic knowledge of thousands of enthusiasts. Customarily, the PSA has an annual convention featuring some well-known guest speaker, usually a top professional photographer. On one particular year, in the city of Colorado Springs, the speaker happened to be none other than the master himself, Galen Rowell.

To see his images in books is one thing, but to experience them on a huge screen in all their colorful, breathtaking splendor is quite another. Slide after slide left the audience "oohing" and "ahhing", thinking it couldn't get any better when another spectacular image would hit the screen.

Truly inspired, I left the auditorium and headed to the nearby Garden of the Gods Park to apply some of Galen's techniques. The light was sweet and as I hurried to find some compositions, I nearly bumped into a man changing lenses. It was Galen!

"Oh hi, Mr. Rowell. I really enjoyed your presentation."

"Thank you."

"What lens are you gonna use here?"

"I think I'll start with a 28mm," he replies.

"Hey, I got one of those. Why don't I just follow along and you can show me how you get some of those great shots."

He looks at me, smiles, and says, "Sure, come on."

"Awwwriiiight!"

But the next thing I know, my new pal Galen is scampering up the side of a mountain, with no ropes, no pitons, in fact, no climbing gear whatsoever. Like a lizard, he scales a seemingly impossible slope with ease and begins to photograph some climbers who have stopped to stare at him in awe. I waited at the bottom of that slope for a long, long time that day but my old chum Galen must have gotten absorbed in his craft and forgot about me because I never did see him come down from that mountain.

The flyer for the local community college read "Wildlife Photography Slide Show" by, well I'll just call him Mr. T. from Montana. The images were great. There were majestic mountain goats, beautiful bighorn sheep, marmots, musk ox, cougar, and birds, dozens of wonderful birds. After the show, I just had to introduce myself.

"Hi Mr. T., I'm planning a trip to Montana myself. Can you give me any tips?"

"Sure," he says, "But let me ask, do you have a place to stay? I got a spare bedroom. You can stay with me if you want."

Whoa! Did I hear that right? Was this finally my big chance to actually hang out with a real pro? Would I? Does a grasshopper hop? Does a bumblebee bumble? Have I died and gone to Heaven?

And so, late that summer, it came to pass. But things didn't go exactly as I'd hoped. Seems Mr. T. is also a busy guy and had lots of commitments while I was there. We didn't get to go shoot any bighorns together nor roam the mountain trails and talk photo talk. In fact, I barely saw him. Choking back my disappointment, I nevertheless spent a couple of wonderful days in Glacier National Park and then decided to check out the National Bison range, about an hour and half from Mr. T's cabin. It was late when I finally returned that night and I had an early flight to catch. Mr. T. was nowhere around as usual. A shower and a good night's sleep were in order. There was just one problem, no hot water.

Then I remembered. Mr. T. has one of those fast recovery hot water systems. It's a device that doesn't actually heat the water until you need it and his had to be manually activated. So here I am, in my skivvies, wandering around in semi-darkness because I don't know where all the light switches are, searching for this wonderful energy saving device. Seems like I remembered it being under the stairs and was headed in that direction when suddenly, I was falling. Now I don't mean a little trip and stumble kind of fall no, I mean a fall where at one moment you're in a cozy cabin with safe, solid footing and the next moment, YAAHHHHH, falling through space. WHAM! I hit bottom with a bone-crushing thud. I was on the ground, the cold, hard ground, wondering what just happened! Where did the cabin go? More importantly, where did the air in my lungs go?

Gasping and gathering what wits I had left, I shakily stood up and realized I had fallen into some kind of giant hole in the floor. Yes, A HOLE IN THE FLOOR! Bruised, battered, and bleeding I painfully pulled myself out and was checking for permanent damage when Mr. T. arrives.

"Oh no." he cries, "Did you fall in that hole? I use that for a storage area. I forgot to tell you about it."

The lesson here dear readers, is that hangin' with the pros ain't all it's cracked up to be. And, as for you Mr. T., my lawyers will be in touch. Or, maybe we could just settle out of court for your Nikons?

Author's note: Perhaps for the benefit of new readers, I should explain that although all of my stories are based on fact, most are, shall we say, enhanced, for entertainment value. Sort of like when they make a book into a movie. In addition, I may have taken a wee bit of literary latitude in the above quotes with the pros. In truth, each of the above mentioned individuals were quite friendly and most generous with their time in the brief encounters I had with them. As most of you know, John Netherton and Galen Rowell are no longer with us but their images continue to inspire.

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Warren Williams has been doing photography for over 25 years focusing mainly on Nature and wildlife. His work has been published in several magazines, including Outdoor Photographer, Outdoor Oklahoma, Oklahoma Today, and Persimmon Hill (the magazine of the Cowboy Hall of Fame). Several of his photos have also appeared on calendars by Smith-Southwestern. Warren is an active member on PhotoMigrations.com and invites you to visit his website located at: Warren Williams Photography - Images of Wildlife and Nature.