robinsandcritters

[robinsandcritters]

I took this picture specifically for @marvinthecrow

[robinsandcritters]

[robinsandcritters]

a cutie

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dinner!

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so pretty

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He has a question for you but he's too shy to ask.

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this picture I took last summer in Italy is priceless to me

[robinsandcritters]

[robinsandcritters]

I have one (1) picture for last summer of what I think it's a juvenile northern gannet and it's bad. But I want to still share that I saw this species too. So... here it is anyway.

[robinsandcritters]

big wings

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Scopoli's shearwater on some important bird business (from last summer in Italy)

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from my time in Liguria last summer

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a bad photographer's reflections on 2024

It's new year's eve and I wanted to share a little reflection, for whomever may need to read something like this.

2024 was the year I promised myself to start my wildlife photography journey (I feel ashamed to even call what I do wildlife photography, but I don't have a better name for it), and I knew it was something I wanted to try my hand at, but I didn't expect to love it as much as I do.

I started with my phone, promising myself that if I kept the hobby going for a few months, then I will take the plunge and buy a camera. I got a very old one, second hand, and a lens that is literally older than me, and kept spending my free time at the local park, with the squirrels acting like professional models, and various kinds of geese and ducks probably getting very bored of seeing my face. Also photos of pigeons. I took so many. I think they're so pretty. A few months later, I went whale watching for the first time. It was a magical experience, even if even I botched it, and all of my photos turned out more "Loch Ness Monster sighting" than "National Geographic".

It's safe to say I didn't learn to take good pictures this year. But I still did learn something, and I want to put it out there. It’s okay to be bad at something that makes you happy, and to keep doing it just for the joy of it. Wildlife photography kept me going during really tough times. Sometimes I was spending my afternoon trying to take pictures of chubby rats with my knees in mud, just to find out later that I somehow ripped my jeans on one side and wondering how many people saw me kneeling in mud in the park with my ripped jeans. Other times I was sitting quietly in a nature reserve, watching robins go about their lives, after giving up trying to get a clear photo of them. Other times I was sitting by a lake taking pictures of duck on a sunny afternoon, listening to a song that felt just right. And on even another time I was on boat on the Mediterranean sea, knowing I was not going to be able to afford going again for a long time, and mentally cursing a pod of dolphins, because I just can't seem to predict where they are going to jump out of the water next. But every single time, I was having so much fun.

I suck at this. I post my best picture and they still are just "meh". And at the same time I am so so excited to keep going, next year! Even if it’s just pigeons around London. And maybe, at some point in the future, years for now, I’ll finally get to go take my dream photo of a puffin. (Watch me!!) Until then, let's keep doing what we love, no matter how good or bad we think we are at it. Promise? Happy New Year, everyone. Let’s make 2025... wild? (ok ok, I'll see myself out)

[robinsandcritters]

Just two buoys, nothing to see here

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