Skip to main content

Beach Birds

When most people go to the beach, they love hanging out on the sand, playing in the waves, or having fun in the nearest swimming pool. I enjoy those things too.

However, whenever I have the chance, I like to play with my camera. One way I do so is to work on getting the best photos possible of my family, but there's another, one that's really special.

Since I was young, I have loved getting up early in the morning when everyone else was sleeping late and walking on the beach. The solitude of being one of the very few out there at the dawn of the day was often the highlight of my week. 

When I got older, my camera always accompanied me on these walks. A spectacular beach sunrise image was usually my goal... until I noticed the birds.

I found out one year that I could follow a crane (or a heron? I always get them mixed up) around for a good while before it would fly away. It was a fun dance - trying to get close enough for a really good photo while staying far enough back that I wouldn't spook it.

I always looked for ways to challenge myself. Birds with freshly caught fish or crabs was one prize. A really clear photo of a bird in flight was another. Plus, these photos taught me a lot. One thing I learned was that birds (at least that kind) have tongues. 

Combining this love of birds with my love of sunsets led to trying to find ways to incorporate the two together. I have spent long spans of time with my camera up to my eye, hoping and waiting for a bird to fly in just the right place to make a sunrise photo go from good to great. 

I recognize it's a goal I will never fully accomplish. I have gotten what I feel are some pretty good images - but there's always room for improvement.

Thankfully, there will always be birds at the beach and as long as I can hold a camera, I'll try to get even better photos. Usually I'm the only one who sees them but that doesn't matter. It's worth it.

                                                     (All images by Tracy Riggs Frontz)










All of the images above are available to order as custom prints, fulfilled by a professional lab, at https://NovelPhotos.Instaproofs.com.

If you don’t have time to order today, feel free to take a business card and order later using the middle QR code. The photos will be under “Trussville Library Gallery.”

If you have any questions, email us at NovelPhotos@yahoo.com.

If you want any hand-signed, get in touch with us before ordering. We can direct you to a gallery that doesn't have our digital signatures on them and we can work out what works best for you to get the signature you want.

To order a signed copy of Tracy’s book: Behind the Lens of a Storyteller – My Journey as a Photographer/Writer, go to https://NovelPhotos.instaproofs.com/BehindtheLens Note that shipping is included – be sure to use the coupon code “SHIPPINGINCLUDED.”

Do you need a highly experienced, budget-friendly photographer for your family or business?

 Go to https://NovelPhotos.com to see our work. Use the “Contact Us” page or email us at NovelPhotos@yahoo.com to find out how we can meet your photography needs.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Emerald Fields

 In 2017, my daughter and I were able to go on a trip to Ireland. It was special in many ways. 1 - My daughter turned 18 in the air on the flight to Ireland. Because at least then their legal drinking age was 18, I was able to buy my daughter her first legal drink... twice (I got to do it again here when she turned 21.) 2 - Due to moving back to Birmingham in the middle of my daughter's junior year in high school, we decided that home-schooling her would be better than changing schools for that amount of time. That meant she wouldn't graduate in the traditional sense - no walking across a stage, getting handed a diploma (or piece of paper as a place-holder for the diploma), and moving her tassel from one side to the other. When I was blessed with the resources to do this trip, I planned to hold a surprise graduation in Londonderry, a city in Northern Ireland where we have distant relatives. We were able to have it on a rooftop in the middle of the city and I live-streamed it (b...
Post a Comment
Read more

Stage Snapshots

Concert photography is something both my husband and myself really love. The lighting is often amazing and it can be one of the easiest times to get a really great shot. We have probably shot well over a hundred professional musicians at their concerts. I will never forget my first professional concert as a professional photographer - TobyMac. Once we got to the venue, there were issues with locating my press pass (we later came to find out this happens a lot). While we were waiting to get in, I happened to find a YouTube recording of the concert on the same tour a few weeks earlier.  It was extremely helpful. When we finally got the press pass debacle straightened out and the concert started, we already had an idea of where the action would be on the various stages on the arena floor. My then-boyfriend/now-husband didn't have a press pass. (I didn't know to ask for one for each of us.) We didn't know tricks about where to stash our stuff during the concert at that point an...
Post a Comment
Read more

Trussville

There isn't much to say about a sign. Instead, I'll tell you how we each got here and share an article I wrote for the "Alabama Magazine." Travis was born in Ohio but moved to Florida when he was young. His brother-in-law got a job in Trussville and he moved with them... and lived in various areas of Birmingham before landing back in Trussville after we married. I was born in Birmingham. I met a man who lived in East TN. We fell in love, got married, and I moved there.... but then we divorced. I stayed for years, but about ten years ago, I left that beautiful area to move back to Birmingham - this time to Trussville.  Here I became a professional photographer and writer. I met my wonderful husband. I began learning ASL again and became part of a Deaf community. I started playing guitar on my church's worship team after a couple of decades of not playing.  I'm thankful we're here. Now, "A Trip to Trussville", published in the Alabama Magazine, Mar...
Post a Comment
Read more