Hello readers. There are so many things that I’ve had planned for updating this site, including a full review of the Canon EOS 7D and an updated article on using manual exposure for flight photography. Unfortunately they will have to wait. Likewise I’m sorry to announce that I will be cancelling my talk on bird photography at the Lifelong Learning Series in the Jupiter campus of Florida Atlantic University that was to take place this coming Thursday January 28, 2010. I apologize for that, but rest assured that the great folks at the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science are making arrangements for someone else to take my place.

Last year we were blessed by the birth of our second daughter. Our two children have kept us very busy parents for the past year, and I’ve had less and less time to spend out in the field photographing wildlife. I have a ton of pictures of the kids, and if you’re interested in seeing those, please send me a friend request on Facebook. The second half of 2009 saw our eldest begin pre-school, and with that came a host of colds that kept me indoors for much of the summer and fall.

A couple of weeks ago my mother suffered two small strokes, and I am now engaged in helping in whatever way I can to help her recover. Care giving takes a lot of time, but has its own rewards. As such I will be spending even less time in the field, until she has sufficiently recovered.

Because I have so little time these days, I will no longer be updating this web site; at least for the time being. I will leave it up “as is” so that it can still be used as a reference of sorts. If you’re interested in seeing my latest work, you’ll be able to find it on my flickr profile. Once life is back in balance and I can continue to pursue this hobby that I love so much, you can expect this site to reopen. Heck, I may just build a brand new site from scratch; and I promise it will be better than ever. Thanks.

Labels: 7D, Facebook, FAU, flickr

The second half of July all the way through the end of October, I’ve been afflicted with one cold after another. My four year old daughter, started pre-school this fall and it seems like there are a whole bunch of cold viruses being spread through children! Combined with the heat, I’ve been stuck indoors for much of that time trying to recover. Hopefully some cooler weather will come to South Florida soon, so I can go out and give my new Canon EOS 7D a good workout. I’ll be posting my thoughts on the new camera once I’ve had some time in the field with it.

It looks like one or more of my images submitted to the 2009 Refuge Photo Contest have made it to the semi-finalist round. My dad received the same notice as well. Winners should be announced soon.

The details of the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge 27th Annual Photography Contest are now available on the contest web site.

Labels: 7D, Arthur Marshall Foundation, Contest, EPS, Loxahatchee

One of the goals of any nature photographer is to have an image published. I have had several of my images published on web sites, presentations, magazines, and books. My winning image titled “The Chase” was recently published in the Spring 2009 edition of Audubon of Florida’s magazine Florida Naturalist (PDF).

However, I’ve always thought of my style of wildlife photography to lean towards publication in some sort of guide book. Much of my youth was spent pouring through field guide after field guide on birds and reptiles and it has undoubtedly had an influence on my work as a nature photographer. So I am pleased that one of my juvenile Black-necked Stilt images from last summer was selected and recently published in the guide Shorebirds of the Northern Hemisphere by Richard Chandler. The book itself is a terrific guide to shorebirds, showing images of both young and adult birds as well as many behavioral images including flight for many species.

Finally I’ve just published an article “Tips on learning how to photograph Birds in Flight” over at the Everglades Photographic Society web site. I’m planning for it to be part one in a series of three updated articles on photographing birds in flight.

Labels: Book, EPS, Flight Photography, Shorebirds, Technique

Hello Everyone. I realize that the web site has not been updated in quite some time. Being a new father again, has made it difficult to find the time keep up with the site updates. The baby and family are doing very well, and we're looking forward to the day we can start getting more sleep again.

As time permits I'll post a major update to the galleries. Right now, I've only been posting images to flickr, so if you'd like to see some recent images, please have a look there.

The Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge 26th Annual Photography Contest was a big success, and we're already hard at work on next year's contest. I'm also working on some updated articles on flight photography for the Everglades Photographic Society web site. That should be published in the next few weeks. Now that it is summer session at FAU, I've been concentrating on photographing some of the burrowing owls that call the Boca Raton campus home.

Finally, I've also got a Facebook page going.

Well folks, many of you know by now that the lack of updates is due to my busier schedule these days.

First, EPS and the Friends of the Loxahatchee Refuge are hard at work putting together the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge 26th Annual Photography Contest. Details for how to enter the contest are now available at the EPS web site. Yes, this is the very same photo contest that I criticized back in February of 2007. So, now I’m putting my foot in my mouth, as coordinating a photography contest is difficult work. Still, we’ve made some changes to avoid some of the more confusing aspects of the contest; and to help improve the contest now and in the future, we’re very interested in hearing your feedback.

Amy and I are also expecting our second daughter in February. Having a pregnant wife and a three year old has made this second time around a bit more challenging, but the rewards of having a family are worth sacrificing those very early mornings in the field. Still, I do miss those sunrises so I’ll be out and about for a few days during my two week holiday break.

About a week ago, one of my Western Digital My Book external hard disk drives, containing all of my RAW image files since 2003, failed. I had a backup on a second hard disk that I store at work, and so I was able to recover the images. It just reminds me that every digital photographer should have a good backup plan in place. You can lose those precious memories in an instant due to a hard disk failure. Although I already had a good backup plan in place, as an extra security measure I’ve now added a Drobo Firewire 800 to my list of backup devices. It should be set up in a week and will add that much more peace and security to my collection of over 600 GB worth of RAW files.

Finally, if you’re a PC gamer, I don’t have to explain the time suck that is World of Warcraft Wrath of the Lich King. It’s my escape from my escape. For a while photography became my escape from everyday life, but since I’ve become more active with groups like EPS, the Friends of the Loxahatchee Refuge, as well as photographing events for the College of Science at FAU; I sometimes need an escape from my hobby. Therein lays the problem of incorporating your hobby with your work, because soon your hobby turns into work. But it’s all good, as long as you can set aside some time to yourself.

Happy Holidays!

Labels: Contest, Drobo, Loxahatchee

First posted on the Tropical Audubon Society’s Bird Board last week, a pair of Least Grebes has recently been located at the Yamato Scrub Natural Area in Boca Raton, Florida. The pair had a nest with two eggs, and the first chick hatched on the morning of September 29, 2008. The second hatched the following morning on September 30th. This is the first documented nest of a Least Grebe in Florida. The Least Grebe is a resident of the Caribbean and is only occasionally sighted in Florida. The last confirmed sighting was in Key Deer National Wildlife refuge in 1988. So it is a thrill for many birders to be able to see this bird in South Florida, let alone to find it breeding here.

On October 2nd the grebes abandoned their original nest and built a new nest in an area of denser vegetation. The grebes are wary of people, but don’t seem disturbed by all the attention they are getting. The nest was probably moved due to threats from predators such as raccoons. These grebes also defend the nest vigorously. They are constantly chasing away Common Moorhens and Mottled Ducks from the areas surrounding their nest. The adults have been taking turns caring for the two chicks, which often ride on an adult’s back.

Labels: Birds, Least Grebe, Rare, Yamato Scrub Natural Area

An image from the June Gallery of the Snail Kites nesting at Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge has recently been published in a book for young readers called “Take A Wetlands Walk” by Jane Kirkland. The book is a great introduction to wetland habitats, animals, and plants. It is part of a series of Take a Walk Books, and can be purchased on Amazon.com. The Snail Kite picture appears on the bottom of page 23.

Back in July of 2007, I wrote about a boating trip with Sisbro Studios for an educational book and DVD that they were working on. Well it’s about to be released soon and you can see the trailer for “The Riddle in a Bottle” at the Sisbro Studios web site.

Finally, on October 18th and 25th, I and other members of the Everglades Photographic Society will be participating in the Arthur R. Marshall Foundation’s Student Photography Project. If you are a photographer who would like to volunteer for this project, please contact Susanna Laurenti.

Labels: Arthur Marshall Foundation, Education, EPS, FAU, Loxahatchee, Sisbro, Take A Walk