Photographing Photographers

I've recently had the pleasure of going out on a couple of photography excursions with a fellow photographer. Photography has mostly been a solo act for me over the years, but it's been exciting to be re-inspired by seeing things through the eyes of someone else. You can both walk the same trail, but end up taking vastly different pictures, and that makes both of you start to push your own photography in new directions! Here are a few of the shots I've taken over the last couple of weeks that have been inspired by seeing things in a different light and experimenting with different styles of photography.

Of course, being with another photographer also gives you another subject to photograph. I found I was taking pictures of him taking pictures, and that it was pretty neat to see the shot that resulted next to the photo of the shot being taken. Here are a few examples of that:

By the way, that sweet little camera he's shooting with his a Ricoh GR, an excellent and compact wide angle set up particularly good for street photography and macro work. I've had a ton of fun getting to play with that a little bit too! And check out some of Jason's other work on his 500px site. 

Finally, a brief year list update! A little birding on San Juan Island has helped me bump the list from 67 to 74 by adding harlequin duck, red-breasted merganser, black oystercatcher, greater yellowlegs, horned grebe, mourning dove, and house sparrow. That helps me build my lead over my dad, who is still at 66 in the year list challenge, though I know that lead will be short lived! I'm still trailing way behind Dave for the moment as well, who as of yesterday is at an impressive 93!

2015 / 2016 Year List Update

Okay, I've fallen way behind the times here, but I still want to post my annual update about my 2015 bird year list, and better late than never, right? Since 2010 I've had a challenge going with Dave over in England, and starting in 2011 my dad joined in as well. I've never beat my dad (who tends to travel more than I do), and I've only beat Dave once (in 2014, though we miraculously tied in 2013!), but it's still fun to play. I'm afraid my lack of blogging over the last couple months has coincided with a lack of birding, so not only did I lose this year but I lost to both of them pretty badly! Here are the numbers:

	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
Total # Bird Species	233	203	222	192	201	176
Dave's Total	237	206	275/205*	192	179	200
Dad's Total		230	204	222	250	245
# States/ Provinces	6	4	5	4	5	6
# Life Birds	23	3	6	3	11	2
# SJ County Species	133?	157	145	149	142	128
# Species by Month
January	87	114	105	110	86	84
February	19	13	52	6	57	7
March	25	12	3	14	8	49
April	21	25	12	20	13	13
May	37	17	24	10	9	8
June	24	2	14	5	6	5
July	1	4	0	1	1	1
August	2	4	3	2	0	2
September	3	5	0	1	5	0
October	2	1	6	0	11	1
November	4	4	0	22	5	3
December	8	2	3	0	0	3

Of course the listing is just for fun, and it's really all about getting out there and enjoying nature and seeing the birds. Here are some highlights of my bird-watching in the last month or so, also demonstrating all the regional travel I've been doing!

Bald Eagle in Cowichan Bay, BC

Great egret in Scappoose, Oregon

Chestnut-backed chickadee in St. Helens, OR

Barrow's goldeneye in Duncan, BC - species #171 in 2015, and #4 in 2016)

Golden-crowned kinglet in Duncan, BC (2016 year bird #33)

Trumpeter swans in Duncan, BC (2016 year bird #20)

Trumpeter swans in Cowichan Bay, BC

Trumpeter swans in Skagit County, WA

Rough-legged hawk in Skagit County, WA (2016 year bird #56)

Red-tailed hawk (dark morph) in Friday Harbor, WA

Immature bald eagle in Surrey, BC

As of now, January 13, my 2016 year list sits at 67 species. My first bird of the year was an American robin, and it was awesome to have Barrow's goldeneye in the first five species of the year. Some other early highlights include pileated woodpecker (#13), Virginia rail (#37), rough-legged hawk (#56), and short-eared owl (#59). 67 puts me just ahead of my dad at 66 as of today, but meanwhile Dave's pulled ahead to a big early lead, with 91 species through January 12, but there's plenty of time to close that gap! Stay tuned for another year of friendly birding competition!