Will Travel for Birds
I recently returned from a trip to Costa Rica. It has been on my “bird” bucket list for some time and finally my friend Shannon and I were able to make it happen. We went for 10 days, which included two days of travel. We spent our days birding and exploring the tropical forest with our local guide. We also go to see some other cool creatures besides birds - like sloths, frogs and monkeys.
Before that I took a quick trip out to California to visit my same friend and we participated in a birding festival down in San Diego. It wasn’t the greatest photo opportunities down there as it was more about birding than photography, but I did get a few good shots, which are included in this post.
My hard drive crashed just before I left for these trips and some of the editing I did over the last few months have vanished. So it was a little disheartening and it took me awhile to what to edit again. I’m slowly moving back into it, but there are some photos I lost because I didn’t make a backup onto my other drives, but lesson learned.
Here are a few photos from my travels. And I’ve included a few Ecuador edits I made over the lat few months.
Hope you’re well!
Much love & appreciation,
Joann
New and Old
I’ve been working on getting pictures ready for my 2025, but at the same time I have been going through some old photos and re-editing them. Now that I have a better knowledge base, it’s helping to make my photos come more to life. When I first started I pushed the “auto” button and let the program do it’s thing. Now I have a better understanding I’m not afraid to push the sliders, even a little further than I did before.
I’m still nursing a fractured toe and my shoulder is still not 100% so birding hasn’t been top on the priority list. We are heading to AZ tomorrow for a week to celebrate my father-in-law’s 80th birthday and plan to take my camera along. You never know when the mood might hit. I am hoping for some astrophotography as well, but we will see how things go.
Hope you’re doing well and thank you again for all your support!
Much love & appreciation,
Joann
Blessing in disguise
A few weeks ago when visiting our cousins, I stubbed my toe. As it hit the bed post I could hear it make several cracking noises. A few days letter it was confirmed, I broke my pinky toe!
I had already been feeling like God was telling me to edit my photos and start writing. When I first broke my toe there were quite a few days spent on the couch doing nothing. I took the opportunity to do an online Masterclass with a wildlife (mainly bird) photographer I have always admired. I watched the set of videos more than three times. Took notes and started to understand the process of editing more. Then when I could sit at my desk for a bit, I started to put my new knowledge into practice. Not only have I learned so much and have greater understanding of how to edit, but I am actually starting to enjoy it. Something I never thought I’d say. Up till then it’s been a chore. I have even gone back and looked at photos I’ve edited in the past and re-edited them with my new knowledge. I’ve been able to make them “pop” more like I have always wanted them to, without going overboard and making them unrealistic. You might notice there are two pictures in this gallery that have be re-edited. I am also working on editing photos for my 2025 calendar. So stay tuned for more information regarding that.
Hope and pray you are doing well! Thank you again, as always, for your support and encouragement!
And yes, my toe is getting better. Slowly.
Much love & appreciation,
Joann
Atlantic Puffin, Grimsey Island, Iceland
Long time…
I know it’s been a long time…again! I am horrible about editing or sticking to my posting system. I’m working on getting better at it. I just purchased a masterclass for photo editing in the software program I use and I’m learning some new techniques and hopefully it will teach me some things to make editing quicker, easier and more enjoyable. As I’ve mentioned before, it’s not my favorite. I could should .jpg and have my computer do the editing for me, but you have so much more flexibility in shooting the way I do (which is in RAW). I am thinking once I get better at editing, I might go back and edit some of the pics I have edited in the past to make them more like I imagined. One step at a time.
My husband and I went on a trip to Iceland back in August. We took a cruise around the island and have eight port stops. It was interesting, but by far the best part of the trip was seeing the Atlantic Puffins, which was the next bird on my bucket list to see! Our first stop at the Látrabjarg cliffs we spotted two. The two Puffins without fish in their mouths are from that visit. I’m not sure if it was the same bird or different ones as they had a habit of mysteriously showing up on the cliff without you seeing them flying in. There were a few other birds I got to see and photograph on our trip. Actually, I saw 26 new lifers, but not every new bird I was able to capture with a good photo. Some are what I call “evidence shots” or something like that. Where you have proof you’ve seen them, but they are not good enough photos to edit. Some are actually awful. LOL
Hope and pray you’re all doing well. I’m working on a “system” of editing and posting and hopefully that will become more regular. And I’m praying more enjoyable! :).
Here is a link to my current portfolio, if you would like to see the updates! Hope and pray you are doing well!
Much love & appreciation,
Joann
Weekly Update
My website is a slow-go. I might have mentioned this last time, but I deleted all my edits when I was updating my catalog in my editing software. I figured I had learned a lot since those edits, that I might as well edit them with my new knowledge. But what I didn’t account for is that it’s a lot of work. And I really don’t like editing. Good one!
I’ve been editing new photos and old ones, but seriously at a snail’s pace.
I have a few photos to share this week. It seemed that I was on a spree of editing Hummingbirds. We saw quite a few while down south outside of Sierra Vista, AZ back in March. Though I did see some that I’ve not seen before, I believe we were still too early in the migration.
The Orchard Oriole was a new one for me. It’s what us birders call a lifer! What made it even more special was that it was perched (and moving around eating bugs) in a beautiful Apple Blossom tree!
Here is a link to my current portfolio, if you would like to see the updates! Hope and pray you are doing well!
Much love & appreciation,
Joann
New Website
It’s been awhile, hasn’t it? I’ve been traveling and also trying to figure out what I’m doing with my photography. I’ve put a lot of thought into it, debating, questioning, and then I finally decided to dive headfirst into a website. I’ve been muddling through it on my own with a new site. Slowly figuring things out. Having to learn new things. Trying to decide what makes sense and how to do it. And most importantly trying to streamline things so that it’s not a lot of time and headache. As it goes with something new, I’ve had to make changes along the way.
I’m still in the process of updating my photos. I made the mistake of thinking I could re-edit all my photos with the new knowledge I had in regards to editing when I was updating my database. Sounds like a wonderful idea, except for when you want to put all those photos on your webpage…it means more work. So it’s a slow process. And it’s slowly getting there - one photo at a time!
I’ve included some of my recent photos I’ve uploaded so far.
I spent some time in Arizona and helping out a friend doing some organizing in California this winter. And I went to Sax-Zim Bog in February to see the Great Grey Owl, which we did on our very last day of the trip.
I know this is brief and a little scattered. I will work on a good format and a regular schedule without bombarding you with e-mails.
If you wish to no longer be part of my e-mails, please reply with UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line and I will take you off of my list.
Here is a link to my current portfolio.
Hope you are well. And I hope you enjoy the new photos.
Much love & appreciation,
Joann
Click on images for better view. Photos are slightly compressed by host site.
