Monday Musings – My 2011 Photographic Goals

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and are ready to take on 2011 with vigor! I know I am. Last year I started keeping track of my photographic goals in a public way. This verbalization and the resulting feedback and comments from friends and readers was very helpful to me. Besides, being creative is not a science and with support from friends and readers you can get a whole lot more from the process. So without further ado……..

Two Medicine Before Sunrise

1) Photograph more, a lot more! This will be difficult given my schedule but I think it is crucial for growing as a photographer. I see how much better I get with every click which inspires me to try new things. There is still much for me to learn and I know I can’t achieve more without shooting more.

2) Get Published!!! This goal really could be considered 1b. As of this writing I have 2 text – photo packages in the hopper and ready to go to magazines. I just need to decide which magazines will get the first submissions!

3) Attend at least one photographic workshop. Working with skilled professionals in any given discipline can only make you better. The same holds true with photography. Given that nature and wildlife photography is my thing, I find 2 benefits to attending workshops other than the educational aspect. First is the camaraderie and networking. Usually you meet several people that are in the same boat as you (whatever that boat may be) and who are always willing to share their knowledge. I have made some fantastic, time tested friends simply by attending workshops. Second is the “guide” aspect of the instructor. For the price of many of these workshops you get the instruction of a pro or pros as well as the advice of a travel guide, all for the same price. However, you must do your homework on workshops, they are not all equal. Make sure you are attending a workshop that is being taught by someone who likes to teach!

Two Medicine Sunrise

Glacier National Park is one of the best locations for a Wildlife/Nature Workshop I could have attended. The images above are both from Two Medicine, one before sunrise, one at sunrise. My next National Park stop will be Yellowstone in Winter!

4) Attend Photoshop World. I hope to be able to attend PSW in Orlando this spring. Maybe even get 2 days of bird photography in before the event!

5) Grow my photographic network. I have made a few friends in this great business but think I need to cast a wider net. Part of this problem is mine. I think I am very personable but I am a tough nut to crack. I don’t let too many into the shell, but when I do, I am ferociously loyal. Hopefully I will need a bigger shell when 2011 ends!

6) Enjoy every moment of everyday! I know this sounds funny and some are even wondering why this would be in a photographic goals list. Truth be told I am a championship level worrier. In this regard I can’t be beat. I was grey haired at 27! The reason this belongs on my list is that I don’t think I can get to the next level as a photographer and person unless I do this. It requires a “rewiring” of who I am, but it is never too late to try. Besides, it will make me a better father, husband and person as well as helping me as a photographer.

So thats my list, what do you think? And whats on your list for 2011?

Great Video from Nikon NPS

This is a great video done by Nikon NPS.  Surprisingly, the video quality is not good but Scott and Joe are some of my favorite people in the business and I think the video is worth 15 minutes to watch.

Hope you all are enjoying the holiday season!

Click on the link below to watch the video.

Scott Kelby and Joe McNally from Nikon.

Merry Christmas 2010

2010 Family Christmas Picture

I will be spending the next week with my family and will not be maintaining my regular blog schedule.

From my family to yours, Merry Christmas. I hope this holiday season allows you to spend time with those you love. Never forget how precious these moments are.

2010 Photographic Goals, How Did I Do?

As 2010 comes to an end, its time to reflect on the goals I set for myself at the beginning of the year as I think about new goals for 2011. So here if you will is my scorecard.

1) Visit and photograph another National Park: A highlight of 2009 for me was visiting Glacier National Park. I attended Moose Peterson’s Wildlife Photographer’s Base Camp and learned more in 5 days than I ever imagined I could. Moose and his son Jake did a great job of combining wildlife biology and practical photography knowledge with business experience. I will definitely attend another Base Camp in the near future. As a result of Moose’s teaching I have read about and researched our National Park system since that visit and have become obsessed with visiting these national treasures. Ken Burns put together a fantastic series called “The National Parks: Americas Best Idea” that I highly suggest everyone watch.
I give myself +1/2 point for this one. I visited many state parks, most notably Baxter State Park in Maine and Honeymoon Island State Park in Florida. However I did not make it to any National Parks in 2010. I need to come out strong in 2011 when it comes to visiting National Parks!

Swiftwater Lake Reflection at Sunrise

2) Create photographs that illicit emotion: One of the true tests of being a successful photographer is whether your images are able to pull at someones heart strings. Good photographs capture moments, great photographs illicit emotion.
I give myself a +1 for this goal. I owe a lot to my mentor Moose Peterson in this regard. He is the king of pixel passion! While I give myself +1, I have a lot of work to do in this regard. I’m still at the bottom of the hill in my learning curve.

3) Get published: I will attempt to have one of my photographs or a text/photo package published in 2010. I will also explore having my images exhibited at some of the local Fairfield County art and framing galleries. I will also enter at least one judged photography contest.
I give myself a 0 here. While I should be able to announce a series of my images being published shortly, it didn’t happen in 2010. I also did not have any of my images exhibited at any art galleries or judged events. I hate when I come up short. That being said, I have 2 submissions about to go to magazine editors so 2011 should see some big dividends for me in regards to being published……I hope.

4) Experiment with different forms of output: I would like to try new print media and video capture (I need to get a DSLR with video capabilities first)! I believe the advent of devices like Amazon’s Kindle and the rumored Apple Tablet will make “moving pictures” an important part of a photographers output capabilities. If you have not seen the Sports Illustrated Tablet Demo it is well worth your time and really cool. While the origin of this mockup is being questioned, the capabilities described are real. There is an old Wall St. traders saying, “Don’t fight the market, go with the flow for resistance is futile”. While I like creating and viewing photographs the tide in the industry is definitely trending toward moving pictures.
I will give myself a +1/2 here. I was successful with trying new output media but did not tackle video. I decided early in 2010 that I should invest my time in improving my photography and not attempt video at the same time. I don’t want my skills to be considered “Jack of all trades master of none”.

5) Attend Photoshop World: I have never attended PSW. Based on my current level of proficiency I think the educational and networking opportunities will far outweigh the costs.
Alas, I have to take a -1 here. Shame on me, I should have gone to at least 1. I bet you can guess what goal will be on the 2011 list!

6) Attend at least one Wildlife Workshop: This doesn’t have to be a photographic workshop, although it can be. The goal is to learn more about wildlife. Having just returned from Africa (I will definitely visit Africa again) I have an even greater interest in learning more about the biology of wildlife. I have started to investigate volunteering for a local wildlife organization to help them with their research by taking pictures.
+1 here!

Grand total 2 out of 6 possible points. Hmmmm, I thought I had a pretty good year photographically in 2010 but a grade of 33% doesn’t seem like it.

I’m sure I will get a few emails or comments about why I would post a goals list and review and put myself out there by saying I didn’t succeed in my goals. The big thing I will tell you is if you only read blogs or surround yourself with people who always are 100% perfect, you are short changing yourself. Life doesn’t work that way. One of the best leaders I ever worked for was Ace Greenberg, the Chairman and CEO of Bear Stearns. He had a very simple message for people that claimed perfection and I paraphrase here, “If you always make money you are not taking enough risk”. While this statement is intended for traders in the investment banking arena, the sentiment applies to anyone, even photographers. If you are always right or perfect, you are not pushing yourself hard enough. I like pushing myself!

The truth of the matter is that I had a great year photographically in 2010. My skills improved dramatically, I continued to meet great people in the industry and I identified other things I need to focus on in order to be a better image and media creator. Personally I find reviewing my goal list motivating and cathartic. I also think you can’t create new goals unless you fully review what you did and didn’t accomplish in your business the previous year. So while I am disappointed with my 2010 score, I now have more information to help me mold the 2011 list. Off to work I go!

Monday Musings – Looking for a New Backyard Bird Feeder?

I have a few projects that I want to complete over the holiday break. One is to create a backyard bird photography studio. I decided to accomplish this in two ways, one with a purchased product that I will customize and the other with a completely home made solution. I think I found the purchased product that I am going to customize, its called “The Effortless Birdfeeder“. It should arrive this week and I am looking forward to working with it.

Effortless Bird Feeder

So here are my thoughts as to why this is the perfect portable backyard studio. I plan on adding perches all over this thing. When I am finished, this product will be the back yard birders equivalent to “Pimp My Ride”! These perches (branches I will attach with zip ties) will allow for birds that want to approach the feeder to rest and check for predators. This, my theory supposes, will allow for peak of action photography.

The mobility aspect of this feeder, allows me to move the feeder to control light and background. Depending on the time of the year will depend on where I place the feeder and subsequently the perches. I will report back next week with detailed pictures showing what I did to the product and how it performs with my customizations. I have had a lot of questions from people asking me for help with setting up their backyard for better bird photography and I think this could be a relatively easy solution to many backyard photography problems.

Note: Photo courtesy Effortless Bird Feeder website.

An Oldie but a Goodie

One of the things I love most about photography in the digital age is the ability to apply new techniques to old images. I am currently undergoing a big project. I am updating all the images on the website. I am doing this in part because I have become a better photographer over the last year or so and want to update the body of work that I am displaying for photo buyers and viewers. Part of this update is taking some old images I made and applying new techniques to them. This image of Swiftwater Lake in Glacier National Park is one of my all time favorites.

Swiftwater Lake from Bridge

Here is another view of Swiftwater Lake with the Lodge in the background

Swiftwater Lake with Many Glacier Hotel

I have been trying a very minimalist approach to post processing now as I get older…errrr mature in my photographic style. I hope you like these updated oldies as much as I do. Also make sure you stop by the website after the holidays as most of the new work will be in the gallery section. I also have some exciting news that I will announce shortly.

Waiting for Their Return

Curious Red Tailed Hawk

As I mentioned on Monday, the pond at Mead Memorial Park is back in operation after some much needed dredging and maintenance. While the pond looks great, there are some inhabitants that were displaced by the work that have still not returned……Red Tailed Hawks like the one in the photo above. I cant wait until they are back in their new home.

I did see one circling the park in the distance over the weekend so I hope that come breeding season they return to the park. There were those who did not like having them in the park. Why? This spring there was a mating pair and their 3 chicks……they made a lot of noise. Noise that people actually complained about.

I have a feeling however that the instincts of the hawks will return them to the park and that the local residence will have something to complain about again this spring.

Monday Musings – Mead Pond Park is Back!

You might remember reading in a previous post that one of the local parks I photograph birds, Mead Pond Park in New Canaan, Connecticut, had its pond drained. The pond was drained because silt built up over the years and made the pond too shallow to support the wildlife that made the pond their home. This problem became evident when moss and algae formed over the entire surface of the pond. In fact, when they drained the pond they found it was only a few feet deep in some locations. This work took several months and unfortunately for me meant that all of the ponds birds went to other locations.
This weekend I went over to the park to check on the work (I have been checking monthly since the work started) and was surprised to find that the pond was full again!

Canada Goose Calling
Canada Goose Drinking
Canada Goose Preening

I made some images of Canada Goose that had returned to the pond. Ice had formed and we had a dusting of snow the night before. I also watched a Red Tailed Hawk circling in the distance. The pond had been home to a breeding pair of Red Tailed Hawks and their 3 chicks this spring. They left the park however when the bulldozers and construction equipment came, go figure!

I’m really glad to see some of the wildlife returning to the pond and look forward to photographing there in the future. It will be great to see what new species inhabit the pond now that the ecology has hopefully been improved.

Seeking Inspiration

I make it a point to work with my camera as much as possible. Even when my creative juices are not flowing I make it a habit of picking up the camera and trying to make some images. This week was a tough week for me, personally and professionally and to be honest, I had little motivation yesterday to pick up my camera or post a blog. So after dinner I decided to take a ride and see if the dusting of snow we just received and the holiday lights might give me some inspiration.

Floating Christmas Tree

After driving around for a while I saw this Christmas Tree scene floating in a pond. What caught my eye was the eeriness of the floating lights on the snow dusted pond. Something out of a horror movie. The snow on the pond made the light reflection look like steam was coming off the pond.

Holiday Light Blur

I also like trying to make appealing blurs with holiday lights. There are several ways you can do this. One is to twist the zoom ring on a zoomable lens while making the exposure. The other is to set your lens to manual focus and when you are able to get the look and feel that you want, take the picture out of focus. I like the first method best however I find that it is most effective when the light is better than it was last night. That is I had no light since it was snowing!

Dark Eyed Junco’s

Last winter when the Dark Eyed Junco’s came to town, we had quite a show in our yard. At the peak there were upwards of 60 birds living around our feeders. I think one of the reasons I like this bird so much is the different colors that its feathers reflect as the light hits it. Sometimes the bird can appear black, others slate grey with kisses of brown. Usually the males are the darker of the species.

If you look below you will see the same bird in the same spot just with different light falling on it.

Dark Eyed Junco
Bright Dark Eyed Junco

The Dark Eyed Junco’s brought some predators with them last year. Several birds were taken out of the air by Red Tailed and Red Shouldered Hawks. As some were making their getaway, they flew into our sliding doors. At one point we had 4 or 5 dead birds in a span of a week. Hope fully we can avoid that this year!