JJP Designs | Photo Ninja

I photographed my 1st Marching Band Invitational... well, my son's band's marching band invitational - his first (he is a freshmen) but their 3rd annual. My son's school band hosted it but there were 14 visiting bands... his band was only scheduled (we'll get back to that 'scheduled' point later) to do an exhibition performance since they were hosting - hosting band does not compete. His band competed at one last week and will do so at another next week... busy schedule these band kids keep. Luckily there were 3 other photographers as well (there were likely a few thousand people there between bands, parents, and friends)... two were other parents and one was a student and band member so he didn't get to shoot the entire time, but he did shoot quite a bit... Side Note: That student photographer I just mentioned - He is a senior and an amazing fashion photographer with a phenomenal eye - particularly for his age! Please check out his Instagram ...

Today was opening day at the local Heron Rookery. To provide some protection for the nesting ground the public is only allowed to view on certain days, at certain times, and only from designated areas. The site is actually utilized by herons, egrets, eagles, and many other species - and today pretty much all of them had young in the nests, all of them popping their heads up now and again looking for food. Having this rookery so close provides a wonderful opportunity to observe these majestic animals without disrupting their natural habits. Since it is so close I am able to visit a few times a year pretty easily... and that means that if I don't see a lot of great photo opportunities on a given day I can just enjoy the birds and some back another day to try again for photos. Today was kind of a mixed bag - there was a lot of time the birds were just too far away to really get great shots, but there were a few good really great photo opportunities as well. To m...