A bird in the hand...

This has been a big week of birding opportunities for me, and all by luck and happenstance.

While waiting for a ferry, I looked out the truck window and noticed a belted kingfisher sitting on a rope at the dock.  I stepped out to zoom in and get a shot, and he flew down onto a rock near the water's edge.

As I focused on this little gem, I heard D next to me clear his throat and say "did you notice what is standing next to him?"  Not 5 feet from the kingfisher was a great blue heron.

After snapping happily away for a good 15 minutes, the great bird flew off.  I wandered back toward the truck then looked up and noticed a massive wingspan in the air, so I high tailed it back down towards the water, where I found the seagulls harassing a young bald eagle.

This is the closest I've managed to get to a baldy in the wild.  He stayed for maybe 5 or so minutes, dodging gulls with a sort of shrugging-off attitude... then I heard the heron call, and that was enough to send Mr. Eagle back to his perch high in the trees.  The heron came and replaced the eagle on the pillar for a few minutes, before gliding back down to *his* spot in the water.

All in all I shot about 150 images of just these three birds.  This 30 or so minute experience makes up for the months of winter dry spell for me.

Happy Valentine's Day

Had some fun with my Lensbaby Composer and macro filters (+4 and +10)

Happy Big Card and Candy Day!

Being accepted feels good, though I'm hesitant to believe it.

Last Fall I heard through the photography grapevine that a new magazine devoted to film/toy camera photography was in development (pun intended) and they had an open call for submissions.  The theme was "the beginning" (fitting, for the first issue of a new magazine) so I submitted my shot titled "First Steps"

I've always loved this shot for sentimental reasons... this is G one of the first times she walked on the wet sand of Santa Cruz all by herself (wearing a dress that I made for her, as a matter of fact)

A short while after I sent in the submission, I received an email saying my image has been chosen for publication in the first issue of Films & Grains magazine!

I was excited to know it seemed to be chosen but didn't really make any big announcement, because I am perpetually brimming with self doubt. What if they originally picked my image, then somewhere down the line opted for a later submission instead?  What if they sent me that email on accident?  It's a brand new publication, what if the magazine didn't make it to press?  My years of battling Murphy's Law told me to hold off saying anything until it seemed really for real.

Last night I received the official word that the first edition of Films & Grains magazine is now available for purchase online!
I have ordered my copy and anxiously await the Big Reveal of my first time being included in someone else's publication.

...presuming they didn't send me the acceptance letter on accident, of course.