In Review - March 2023

The first quarter of 2023 has already come to a close! How has the time flown by so fast?

March at first seemed like it was going to just drag on. The early part of the month was really slow and it didn’t seem like there was much of anything going on. All of a sudden, though, the second half of the month was super busy. It was crazy!

Last month was also a month of firsts for me, including my first AirBnB shoots in the real estate photography side of my business, and my first ever trip to Washington, DC for the peak bloom of the cherry blossoms (more on that later).

The weather in March around the Delmarva Peninsula was all over the place - some days were warm, and others were bitter cold.

When my friend Kevin Lynam and I took his boat out to explore Assateague Island from the Sinepuxent Bay side, it was one of the cold and windy days. Nonetheless, we had a great time as we always do when out shooting together, and got many great photos - some of horses very rarely seen by visitors to the island!

As far as firsts go, there are two adventures that, for me at least, were firsts in the month of March.

First was a trip to Blackwater Wildlife Refuge in Cambridge, Maryland. Kevin invited me along one day, and we adventured around the wildlife refuge - both along Wildlife Drive in the refuge itself, and on some nearby roads that cover the outside of it. When I say there were birds galore, I mean there were so many different types of birds around - herons, eagles, woodpeckers, ducks - you name it, and you could have probably seen it there. We wrapped up the trip in Cambridge proper, checking out some ducks at Oakley Street and the Choptank Lighthouse (which is very cool looking, by the way).

The other first, as mentioned previously, was a trip over to Washington, DC for the peak blook of the Cherry Blossoms. I made the day trip over one Thursday, and was not just blown away by the blossoms, but admittedly also the number of people. It was one of the hardest experiences I’ve had thus far as far as finding compositions. Between weaving in and around walkers, couples at portrait sessions, and other photographers trying to get shots like me, it was an incredible challenge. Not only that, but I went on a cloudy day, so the sky was pretty boring. As a photographer, though, these are things I need to learn to work with, so it was a great learning opportunity, and something I would certainly try again in the future.

As we approach the end of the In Review series, you know how much I enjoy sharing my favorite image of the month with you all. For March, it was difficult to pick an image as my favorite because there are a few that I could have easily justified as my choice. It could have been the photo of Eve from the Northern Band, or even the sunset photo captured near the Naturalist Shack. There was the oystercatcher on the rocks near Ocean City, or the buffleheads in flight with the motion blur behind them. In the end, it is the photo below of an American Kestrel perched on an electrical wire near Blackwater Wildlife Refuge. I chose this photo because I’ve tried on many occasions to get a kestrel on camera, but they are super flighty and don’t usually sit still long enough to get a decent photo. This one, however, stayed super still and calm, letting me get a shot I’ve wanted for a good long while.

April is shaping up to be incredibly busy as well, with some excitement right around the corner! Next week (April 14 - 17), I Kevin and I are doing a photo weekend in the Outer Banks! It will be my first time there, and I am really looking forward to getting some new shots and a little variety in my portfolio to share with you all.

I’m also in the process of putting together some notecards with the various horses of Assateague Island on them (special thanks to Vivian Rupp from Facebook for the suggestion!), which will go up for preorder once the designs are finalized - be sure to keep an eye out for that so you don’t miss out! There will be some new signed 5x7 prints (matted to fit an 8x10 frame) added to the shop soon once I get a few product photos of them. Save this link to access the shop and keep an eye out for when they are added!

I hope you all have enjoyed this look back at the month of March as much as I have! April is off and running, so we can’t reminisce too long about the past - here’s to the month ahead!

Thanks for tagging along, and see you all out there!

- Tyler

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