Greetings from Arkansas! Excited to be here!

[Melyssa St. Michael]

Hello fellow BPN mods, members and participants!

Saying hello and introducing myself :) I am a passionate (err, make that slightly obsessed) avian hobbyist that has been lurking here for awhile and have now decided to take the plunge and join as a member so I can properly contribute back with this amazing community of passionate photogs. I am about 8 months into my journey, so lots to learn! I live in Arkansas, which is very rural, so I am exploring my local surroundings every free minute I get. Though I don't have any oceans available to me here, I am exceptionally intrigued by wading birds, shorebirds and seabirds - so when I travel, I make it a point to find areas for new bird opportunities :)

My number one goal right now is to work to become better at the technical and compositional aspect of the image - there is so much that goes into making an exceptional image, my end goal is to learn how to better express (through composition) what I feel through the images I capture, so the viewer can feel it too. Oh - and have those images be sharp - tack sharp. Which is my number one issue right now - I am having a trouble with sharpness, and I know I just need to learn the mechanics of exposure and support better, which feels like I will never get right, but I know with time and perseverance, and maybe a little help from BPN, I will get there :).

Though I am a newbie to avian photography, I am an experienced digital marketer with 15 years experience in New and Emerging Media (read social media, SEO and mobile), so, I am happy to offer any help/advice to any professionals who need a bit of help with their marketing efforts, I am very happy to return the favor and wish to reciprocate what I can here as a good citizen of BPN :)

Thank you and looking forward to meeting and connecting with everyone here!

Best,
MSM

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[Christopher Miller]

Welcome to BPN, Melyssa! Looking forward to your participation here.

[Melyssa St. Michael]

Hi Chris and thank you for the greetings! So excited to be here, looking forward to it! Happy Thanksgiving!

[Daniel Cadieux]

Hi Melyssa, welcome to BPN!! You've found the perfect place to hone your skills in bird photography. I love all birds but have a soft spot for shorebirds too...I'm far from the ocean too, but migration time brings many of them through on their journeys north and south. See you online

[Melyssa St. Michael]

Hi Daniel! Thank you for the warm welcome! Everyone is so nice here, I have already picked up some amazing pointers from Diane and a few others in the Eager To Learn Forum :) And now, one from you - I had never considered the migratory stopovers :) Excellent idea and thank you for sharing .. you just opened a whole new world of possibilities for me :) Thanks again and see you online!

[Diane Miller]

Welcome, Melyssa -- this is a great place to learn and to hang out with like-minded folks. We're all on the same journey!!

Looking forward to your participation!

[Melyssa St. Michael]

Yes! Love it here, and you have been so helpful with your fabulously (gentle) critiques! Thank you and I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

[Lyle Gruby]

Hi Melyssa,

I'm also from Arkansas, but I live in Memphis now. Arkansas has some very good opportunities once you figure out where to look. I see lots of good shots of species we don't even get here in Memphis at Holla Bend and there's probably eagles at Bull Shoals that you can shoot while they fish--so I hear but I have never been. I'm hoping to go some time around New Year's.

BPN is a fantastic place to learn, it'll speed your learning curve up by lightyears. Good luck, looking forward to seeing your work.

[Melyssa St. Michael]

Hi Lyle! Thanks for the tips! I live in NW Arkansas (Bentonville) and I have been scouring Flickr and a few other locations to find some good places to go locally, I will definitely add Holla Bend and Bulls Shoals to my list :) So far I have been using eBird to "discover" birding hot spots and then go from there :) Thank you for the kind welcome, and ditto in kind - looking forward to seeing you and your work here sometime soon :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Welcome Melyssa! This is a great forum for you to learn from so you joined the right one! Lot's of great talent here as well as HONEST critiques. Keep posting and keep an open mind... It will definitely help improve your skills

[Doug Brown]

Welcome to BPN Melyssa! I you stick with it, you'll see your pictures improve immensely with regular image posts on our critique forums.