As a child, Hide-and-seek was my favorite.

I’d camouflage myself well enough to not be discovered by for hours. So, ocean wildlife and I understand each other. Photographing marine life from a boat is like playing whack-a-mole while trying to find focus. It's funny... The largest creatures on earth are the hardest to locate — especially from a tiny Panga boat. With endless blue in sight, it’s near impossible. Some days we saw nothing from our vantage point.

But, animals are everywhere.

Having a long lens is awesome until a grey whale comes right up to you. But, having a short lens won’t work when a fin whale breaches from afar.

Lack of an underwater camera housing or up to date Gopro makes it hard to clearly see what’s below. And if you don’t have a drone, good luck capturing the magnitude and scale of a whale from above.

This once in a lifetime experience had me in a mental Kerfuffle for how to take action.

“Ashley, cálmate.”

I chose presence. And safely tucked my digital babies away.

The lack of decent photos I came back with after 6 days on the water articulates the honest truth about how hard wildlife photography is. It also a practice in balance -- what your ego wants vs. accepting what is. And I am inspired by those who do it well.