The Natural

After retiring, Will Bagby took up wildlife photography and in very little time was capturing world-class images.

On a recent September morning, local photographer Will Bagby made his way along the Tuckahoe Creek Park boardwalk where he passed a small group of photographers looking for migrating warblers.

Moments later, he was standing solo in the corner of the park when a Barred Owl swooped by and landed on a nearby limb. Bagby made a dozen or so images of the owl and then called his photographer friend Ed Dinep, who was with the warbler crowd, and told him about the owl. One minute later, a small gaggle of photographers surrounded Bagby. All the photographers got ample time to photograph the owl.

“I’m here for the people, not the birds,” says Bagby with a laugh.

When Bagby retired two years ago, he decided to try his hand at photography. The former elementary school teacher (at Laburnum, Ridge, Crestview, Wells and Beulah) says he wanted to document plant life around Virginia, but that lasted only a month or so. He kept seeing people photographing wildlife who were laughing and having a good time. “So I said, ‘Well, maybe I can do this.’ I like to laugh and have a good time. People were really nice to me. And kind of adopted me as their mascot.”

Photographer Will Bagby at Tuckahoe Creek Park. Photo by Scott Elmquist

After just a few short years and lots of trial-and-error, online classes and conversations with other photographers, Bagby is consistently producing stunning wildlife images. His routine is fairly simple. He gets up early, consults his eBird Mobile app, then decides where to photograph that morning. The app has up-to-date information on migrations and birding hotspots. Most places Bagby frequents are within 30 minutes of his house in Midlothian.

Once in the field he doesn’t move fast, he doesn’t need to since he has no agenda. His gear isn’t fancy or ultra-expensive, he uses a Nikon Z8 with a Sigma 150-600 5.6 zoom lens. There’s a running joke among the circuit of photographers, when Will shows up, the birds show up.

“I’m not a photographer, but I worked in the field alongside some of the best shooters in the world for 30 years and know a good photograph when I see one” says Don Belt, a former senior editor for Geography and World Affairs at National Geographic Magazine, who retired in 2011. “The first time I saw Will Bagby’s work, I was blown away. Not only are his photographs technically sound, but he has a great eye for composition and light, and for capturing the moment, which is incredibly difficult when working with wildlife behavior, especially birds in flight. His images are iconic. He’s the real deal.”

In a field laden with talented photographers, Bagby’s wildlife photography sticks out because he captures unexpected elements in his images. For example, a sinister looking Great Blue Heron spearing a catfish, where the eyes of both creatures tell the story. The piercing death stare of the heron coupled with the stunned look of the catfish, water still dripping from its whiskers. On a lighter note, a bullfrog seemingly smiling for the camera, or an osprey starling a red-shouldered hawk, where Bagby somehow managed to get the hawk staring straight into the camera, eyes bulging with surprise. Or a group of Northern Shovelers perfectly in formation, flying at high speed but perfectly photographed with precision negative space and a muted out of focus background. The color of the duck’s feathers popping.

“Will’s out every almost every morning with his camera,” says well-known local photographer Bill Draper. “In a relatively short period of time he has shown a real talent for wildlife photography and is respected for regularly coming up with beautiful photos.”

Also Bagby is savvy about using social media to display his work. He’s on Facebook, Instagram, Instagram Threads and Next Door. One image of a red-shouldered hawk went viral and ended up being viewed by 130,000 people on Next Door. “The image got good response on Facebook. It got better response on Instagram. But on the Next Door app, not only did my next door neighbor see it, but it went nationwide.”

Bagby loves the variety of wildlife-rich locations he has at his disposal. His travels take him to Dutch Gap Conservation Area, Powhatan State Park, Chamberlain Swamp, Rockwood Nature Center, Midlothian Mines and Tuckahoe Creek Park to name a few. He often coordinates with friends to meet up and photograph and recalls a specific time when he and Ed Dinep were at Chamberlain Swamp and there were tons of great egrets and great blue herons and they were all feeding.

“And they didn’t care that we were there at all. Wow. We took picture after picture after picture of those birds swallowing down fish, and it would’ve meant nothing to me if Ed hadn’t been there,” Bagby explains. “It was so exciting, so nice. It’s just one of those things. If I’d been there by myself, I would be looking for someone to be there with me to share with because it would mean something. People have a lot of interesting stories, and if you stop and listen to ’em, it’s almost like a sacred moment you’re sharing with them. We all have shared experiences and hopefully we have a shared existence. Oh, and the birds are cool too.”