The gift of life

Great Egret chicks playing, St. Augustine, Florida

When I wrote my last post, little did I know that a week later our area would be affected by a hurricane. While the earthquake only unnerved people hurricane Irene left a path of destruction. Many areas along the East coast of the United States were affected and lives were lost. While I can't help but feel lucky that the Washington D.C. area was not affected severely my heart goes out to the people who lives have been turned upside down by this event.

Don't take things for granted. Enjoy the gift of life!



Upcoming Workshops and classes:

September 24
Digital Nature Photography One-day Workshop (Chincoteague Island, VA)
October 6-9
West Virginia Fall Workshop
October 15
Great Falls Field Session
October 16
Creative Digital Photography Seminar
(at the Imperial Hotel in Chestertown, Maryland)
October 22-23
Autumn at Great Falls Workshop
November 12
Essentials of Bird Photography
(at Nature Visions - Mid-Atlantic Photography Association Expo)
November 18-20
Chincoteague Island Workshop

View full 2011 workshop schedule...

Chincoteague Workshop Report

Last week I lead 4 day workshop at Chincoteague Island. We had had great weather after an overcast evening shoot the first day. Even though it was overcast the group enjoyed getting within touching distance of the Chincoteague ponies. A couple of quick passing showers later we decided to go for a group dinner. After that every field trip we made over the next 3 days was filled with good opportunities. 

Great Egret Landing

This was one of those opportunities. Generally Great Egrets use a stealthy approach to get to their prey. However, this egret really performed for us. It pranced and jumped around for almost 45 minutes. I made sure everyone photographed it for a little while. Some moved to photograph other birds. That's when I pulled out my camera for about 5 minutes and let off a few bursts to capture the action. I was quite pleased to get this image from a 5 minute shoot. Several of the participants came away with gorgeous photos that I saw in the feedback sessions.

Chincoteague Island Workshop Report

Chincoteague is definitely one of my favorite places to photograph. I love it for the variety of photographic opportunities. It's not a very grand or large location, but I am attracted to it's subtle beauty and wildlife.

A couple of weeks ago I lead a spring workshop at Chincoteague. The weather held up and we were able to view and photograph some beautiful beach scenes and lots of birds.

Here are a few photographs I made while demonstrating various techniques. The image above was a "grab shot". We got to the beach the first morning and witnessed a colorful display of nature. This was one of two photos I made while the color was intense. I spent the rest of the time with the participants making sure they were making the most of this lovely sunrise.