Tampa Birds to Become Bluegrass Birding
On April 15, I left Florida and started my permanent move to Lexington, Kentucky. The move is a result of a job change. I resigned from my job in industry where I was working as a Product Manager to go back to working in a blood center. I am really excited about the new job, but am a bit sad about leaving Florida. I will miss Florida’s wonderful birds, it’s warm weather, and the good people at the Tampa Audubon Society (TAS). I am still active in TAS, leading the Photo Club in our monthly, online Zoom meetings every third Thursday of the month. But at some point I know I will need to turn the reigns over to someone local to Tampa.
This Wednesday was my first full day in Lexington. That evening I participated in the first in-person post-COVID meeting held by the Central Kentucky Audubon Society (CKAS). I met some lovely people that evening, got a sense of what the CKAS is doing, and some ideas about where to bird. They are having a bird walk this Saturday morning at the Lexington Cemetery, and I intend to be there.
Moving from Florida to Kentucky does raise questions about how to continue to manage this site. I’ll be birding primarily in Kentucky (the “Bluegrass State”) so continuing to call it Tampa Bay Bird Photography no longer makes sense. After some thought, I’ve decided to rename it “Bluegrass Birding.” Surprisingly, the domain name was available, so I quickly paid the $12 to own the domain. Once I start taking bird pictures in Kentucky, I’ll update the website address to www.bluegrassbirding.com and change the logo. Below are some font options I am considering. Let me know which option you prefer in the comment section below.
Previously, I offered “photo walks” throughout the Tampa bay area, but quite honestly, very few people joined me on those walks. So I probably won’t be bringing those back any time soon, especially since I don’t know the Kentucky area at all and need some time to understand birding here. I will, however, bring back prints.
To ensure a high level of quality I used to make my own fine art photo prints. However, with the move I am unable to print for the foreseeable future. Therefore, I’ve been looking for a good, quality print lab. I had some images printed by a variety of print labs and the best results have been with NM Fine Art. I have been extremely pleased with the quality of their prints, the turnaround time, and the shipping. As a bonus, using a professional print lab allows me to offer a variety of print media (e.g., fine art photo prints, canvas prints, metal prints, and even custom framed prints), all of which can be shipped directly from NMFA to the customer’s address. I’ll soon be updating the website to offer a few images for prints.
So that’s the deal for the moment. I hope you’ll continue to follow along as I take this new photographic journey into Bluegrass birding. I am really excited about what’s to come!
Happy birding!
Jonathan
