My 2013 Birding and Photo Resolutions

California Condor © Brooke A Miller

1.  Just get out there!  This is first and foremost for me.  I keep busy with lots of things--things that have to be done, and things I want to do.

Golden-crowned Sparrow © Brooke A Miller

2.  Don't just look, but see!   It's so easy to not really see what you're looking at day-in and day-out.  Make a note of field marks on the birds, don't just say in your mind what the bird is!

Hermit Thrush © Brooke A Miller

3.  Keep learning!  Ok, so this one isn't too hard for me.   Read, learn and experience more about birds, photography, and photo post-processing.  Use this new knowledge!

Long-eared Owl © Brooke A Miller

4.  Expand my horizons--get outside my familiar box!   Go to new places; use new techniques.

Tree Swallows and their Nest Box © Brooke A Miller

5.  Keep my photos backed up daily.   I'm all backed up on the first day of 2013, and I need to keep it that way!

6.  Take better photos, not more photos!(?)  There's nothing like coming home from a birding outing to process 500 photos of only about 25 bird species, when I saw 75 bird species!  Photo processing takes so much time and perhaps there's no easy answer here.  Maybe I do need to take a lot of photos; if so, I need to hit the 'delete' key a lot easier and quicker.  

Bobcat © Brooke A Miller

7.  New gear!?  I love my Canon 7D that I've been using for 3+ years.  I'm hoping that Canon introduces a new APS-C DSLR this year with fast FPS.  Whenever they do I will get it!  I don't have a backup camera and I really need one.  There will most likely be new photo processing software in 2013 as well.

There are rumors of a Canon EOS 7D Mark II

8.  Keep my photo site and blog current!   I really love my new name and logo, thanks to my daughter, Robin!   I hope to write a blog post at least once a week, and post new photos to my photo site http://idbirds.smugmug.com whenever I have new photos.

Brooke A Miller
January 1, 2013