In Review - October 2023
I can’t believe it, but we are already through 10 months of 2023. It feels like it hasn’t been that long since the year started, and yet it is nearly coming to a close.
For this month’s In Review, we’ve got a pretty short one as October wasn’t all that eventful. I’m grateful for the occasional quiet month, so it was a welcome change of pace to be a little on the slower side for a change.
One thing I have started to mix into my routine again is getting to the beach for sunrise. Despite being an early riser (up around 5:00 am Monday - Friday), the summer sunrises are too early even for me. Now that they are around 6:30/7:00 am, it is a lot easier to make it to the coast to watch the sun come up.
It isn’t an everyday occurrence, though, as much as I wish it could be. As I come up on my one-year anniversary of being a full-time photographer, I’m hoping I can use the experience of the last year to really establish some systems that allow me to spend more mornings on the beach. I have a few things in mind, but need to figure out how to implement them!
On the Birds of Delmarva front, October was officially the second slowest month for new additions after April, as just two new birds were photographed. The list will hopefully continue to grow as new migratory species come back to the peninsula for winter.
While birds were scarce, October did see me finally get my shot of the old boat at Slaughter Beach (right). This is something I’ve been wanting to shoot for a long time, and I finally got my chance in October. During the editing process, I did swap the sky for a one with a little cloud action, and it made a world of difference!
For my favorite photo, I was torn between the old boat and the one to the left of a red morph screech owl. Both are some of my favorites from this year, that the choice could have gone either way.
In the end, the screech owl won out because after many visits to its burrow, I finally got a shot with its eyes open. And to top it off, I also got some nice contrasting colors with the leaves in the background.
November marks the one-year anniversary of taking photography from a side hustle and passion project to a full-time career, so I can’t wait to share some of the new things I’ll be doing moving forward to mark the occassion! There will also be a special edition of In Review coming up to look back at some of the things I’ve learned and done in my first year.
Also, in case you missed it, I recently shared a few special announcements over on Facebook for the rest of the year. First is a limited print run of what will be my first book - Assateague Island’s Wild Horses - which is now available for pre-orders! This book is a compilation of a year’s worth of adventures to the Maryland barrier island, featuring some of my best and favorite images, along with the stories behind them. I’m also excited to share that through the end of the year, all donations made through the Photographer’s Promise program will be DOUBLED from their normal amount. This means for something like the 2024 Wildlife of Delmarva calendar, instead of a 15% donation to the Delaware Center for the Inland Bays, it will be a 30% donation if purchased between now and December 31.
And that wraps this edition of In Review! Thanks so much for taking the time to check out this new post, and here’s to the adventures ahead!
- Tyler
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