JUST PhotographIN'

This year turned into a year of bird photography.  It started back in March when I was watching a couple dogs.  I was flipping through Instagram, and came across a post from Celestron about their C5 spotting scope.  The post sparked my interest as a new piece of photographic equipment.  It only took a day or two of pondering, then I ordered one of the scopes.

Around the same time, a pair of Great Horned Owls returned to one of their favorite nesting sites nearby.  This led to the first opportunity for shooting photographs through the scope.  I was pleased with the results.

The mother owl on the nest.

The two immature owls before they fledged (they were testing their wings in preparation to fledge).

Being that spring is when many birds return from their winter sites, I began siting more birds.  The past few years, there has been a pesky male Northern Flicker around the house.  Part of their mating ritual includes the male beating on anything that sends out a noise to attract attention to itself.  This often roused me earlier than I wanted to wake up, and I would run out with a tennis ball to chase the bird off the metal roof vents.  Scare tape was also installed and effective.

The male Northern Flicker courting a female.

The Mountain Bluebirds also arrive in April, and quickly claimed one of the birdhouses as their nesting location.  They were really fun to observe.  The swallows arrived slightly later, and there were some battles as the swallows tried to force their way into the already-claimed birdhouse.  The bluebirds prevailed, and raised a brood of fledglings that are still around the area.

The adult male and female bluebirds tending to their young in the birdhouse.

The Mountain Bluebird fledglings (four of them with three visible)

A Red-tailed Hawk has frequented the area for several years.  It has been a challenge to capture a decent takeoff photo.  This year, I managed to capture a decent shot.

There were also a few new birds around the neighborhood (or at least I had never observed them/IDed them before).  This included: Yellow-rumped Warblers, White-crowned Sparrows, and a Western Tanager.  I had seen a Western Tanager in the area, but never in the yard.  The White-crowned Sparrow created a challenge as I was trying to capture a video of it singing its song.  It would fly away before I could manage to hit record.

The male White-crowned Sparrow hunting for food in potentilla bushes.

I have also spotted a few of the regular bird species: American Robins, Pine Siskins, Pygmy Nuthatches, Mountain Chickadees, Red-breasted Nuthatches, Downy Woodpeckers, Steller’s Jays, Broad-tailed Hummingbirds, Rufous Hummingbirds, House Finches, Tree Swallows, Common Ravens, American Crows, Morning Doves, Black-billed Magpies, House Wrens, etc.  Needless to say, 2017 turned into a year of birds.

I have been exploring Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) and the surrounding area for twenty five years plus.  This odd thing started occurring last year.  Part of it may have been driven by the launch of my new photo card sets.  The best way to describe it is that it feels like a battle with familiarity.

Heading into the park to take photographs has become somewhat difficult.  I actually started feeling disconnected from the park earlier last year.  The best reason I can come up with is the phrase “been there done that.”  There are so many places that are familiar in the park that I do not get the urge to stop to enjoy them.

One of my objectives for 2017 is to start finding new ways to reconnect to RMNP.  I do have a list of hikes that I have not done.  Perhaps, new locations will spark a new way to capture the park.  Scouting new locations may even include a few places outside of RMNP.  I am already trying to figure out how to capture the solar eclipse in August!

I also noticed that some of my photos have certain characteristics that are familiar from photo to photo.  This is not necessarily a bad thing, because it lends to my style.  However, it does not hurt to try new perspectives and techniques to capture photos.  This could include trying new lenses or accessories.

How do I make familiar places new again?  The answer is simple – start stopping at them again.  The other solution is to step outside the comfort zone and try something not familiar.  Either way, it will be good to start overcoming this battle with familiarity.

This last week was launch week for my photo card sets.  There were some jitters and nervous moments through the whole process of creating and launching the photo cards.  I can say launch week went fairly well, though!

The photo card process actually started about a year ago when I was talking to a fellow photographer about printing.  We started talking about different papers, and he gave me some recommendations of good quality papers.  The next step involved culling through photos to pick themes that worked well for photo sets.  My brain kept bouncing around different themes and photos to create sets.  Eventually, I had enough photos selected as well as the themes.

Then, it was onto the design phase.  My initial card design utilized the entire area of the card.  The printer supports borderless prints, and I assumed that it would do this for the photo card paper.  That was actually the largest error that I made.  I had already created all thirty cards using the borderless printing design before testing to see if it would actually print that way.  Nope!  The printer did not print the photo cards without the border around the edge.  I guess I should have paid more attention to margins on the paper template!  This required going back through every template to adjust the card design into the printable area margins.

Once I had the cards designed and printing the way they were supposed to, it was time to finalize pricing and setup the photo card page on my webpage.  There were a few late nights checking and double checking variables I could think of – the “what ifs.”  Then, it was time to pick a launch date to make everything live.  Somethings are not controllable, nor had I thought of them.  I have already had to make some adjustments for the unexpected variables through launch week.  That is part of the process.

Looking through the photos creates a sense of nostalgia, for me.  Almost every photo had some form of help from friends and family, whether it was: a simple recommendation of something to try, hiking along to a destination (often times waiting for me to take photos), holding or hauling equipment, or just giving two cents of advice when I asked “better one or two” (like an optometrist) during culling and post processing.  The photo cards are more than just photos.

I see the story of how each one was created.  Some of the winter scenes were taken for my dad, on his birthday.  I made a trip to Yellowstone in search of wolf viewing and photographic inspiration to celebrate my own birthday.  My mom’s favorite flower is the Wild Iris.  My sister and so many of my friends grew up as Estes Park Bobcats.  Alpine flowers and the many other flowers are delicate pieces of nature that are protected in national parks.  This is just a brief glimpse at the story behind the photo cards and the process I went through to create them.

As a youngster, one of the most agonizing questions I remember was the standard – what do you want to be when you grow up?  It feels like this question often haunts people, as though it sets people up to chase after dreams.  I always answered the question with some of the standard responses that make people ooh and aah: fireman, police officer, pilot, etc.  Deep down, though, I always wanted something different.

I remember one of my dream jobs was to open a fly fishing shop where I could spend a few days tying flies and a few more days out guiding people to “the big fish.”  I would buy a cabin on a lake or river and turn it into a fly in bed and breakfast for float plane pilots.  If I was not at the lake, I would be out on a mission trip or doing something that served the community.  After I graduated college, I was determined to join a mission aviation organization and head to Africa or some foreign country.  If it was not the missions field I was going to buy a plane and volunteer to fly animals (or anything) across the country.  Obviously, I am not exactly there, because these were dreams of my younger self.  

This dream of being a small business owner is, however, growing.  One step at a time.  There are definitely more difficult days than there “easy” days.  As a sole proprietor, I become the CEO that makes all the business decisions.  The path that I choose has profound impacts on everything.  Tomorrow, I am launching photo card sets.  To any other person, this may appear to be a small task.  Yet if it fails, I have to choose a different path that will lead to putting food on the table.  That is a slight exaggeration. However, it is a reality.

Marketing becomes a part of life.  I am doing my own market research to determine whether a product or service has value.  This works in partnership with research and development, finances, etc…  Once my product is created, I also ensure that it meets a high standard of quality.  Business partnerships and the corporate world have independent resources/departments that often handle these tasks.  I am tackling them all, for the most part, as a single person.

The other day, I was up at two in the morning fixing design issues with the photo cards that are about to launch for sale.  I was about ready to throw in the towel on the entire project.  The thing that kept me going was the fact that I am making one small step toward that dream I had as a kid.  It is a step toward making my dream a reality.

I am closing out the books for 2015.  Here is a look back at the year, quantified by the numbers (be sure to click on the links to view photos and videos):

• Six thousand four hundred fifteen photos taken
• Seventy three photos sold
• Thirty miles hiked (approximation)
  • I need to get out more…
• Five hikes
  • Little Yellowstone from the Colorado River Trailhead
    • New trail/destination for me
  • Little Yellowstone from La Poudre Pass
    • New trail section for me
  • The Loch and above
  • Glacier Creek Trail
    • New trail section for me
  • Lake Isabelle
    • Also saw moose
• Three time-lapse sequences completed
  • Orchid
  • Violet
  • Geminid Meteor Shower
• Three customer photos printed
• One event
  • Treasure Tables Fundraiser for PEO Chapter IY
• One vacation
  • Arizona
• One new piece of photographic equipment
  • Epson P600 photo printer
• Hedgehog Cactus Flower photo published in a 2015 calendar
  • Maricopa County Parks
  • Displayed during the month of October

I am already looking forward to what 2016 has in store!  Happy New Year!

I have not been posting many blog posts.  That is obvious to those that are following my blog site.

This year has been interesting.  Every time I have tried to type something, my thoughts have not been conveyed into words very easily.  With the way the year started, I had imagined quite the opposite.  Instead, it turned into a year with few words.

Photography has remained at a somewhat steady pace.  I still have projects that I would like to attempt to accomplish, but I am satisfied with the results of what I have done.  The Orchid Time-lapse and the following African Violet Time-lapse were very popular.

One of my favorite moments was meeting my new niece!  I took my DSLR along for the trip, and was able to take many photographs.  This was a personal project for the family.  I had so much fun!

Right before the trip to meet my niece, I participated in my first public appearance to promote my photography.  This was for a fundraiser, called Treasure Tables, to support a local PEO chapter.  The feedback from this event was also very positive.

Based on all of the positives from the year, I decided to purchase a photo printer.  The printer is capable of 13″ x 19″ sheets or 13″ x 125″ with a paper roll.  This will bring a new element to my photography, and I am excited to see where things go!

This is a brief summary of the year that turned out to be one of few words.  I have some saved drafts of thoughts that I was planning to post earlier. Hopefully, my thoughts will translate more easily to the blogs for the new year.