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UNCLEJUT

@unclejut

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photographer. videographer. storyteller.

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by @unclejut

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7 days ago

My manager told me it was World Photography Day and recommended I post some of my favorite shots.

These shots of the Snowy Owl are definitely not my favorite, but it was by far one of my favorite and most emotional encounters.

I’d been searching for the Snowy Owl for the last few winters, spending hours along the Jersey shores, coming up empty-handed and discouraged after each failed mission.

This past winter I joined some bird photography groups on Facebook (I am a boomer and a half) and started seeing photos of her in NJ. I made a few trips looking for her, but again came home with nothing.

Then in early February I saw a photo with a building in the distance. My first real clue.

I spent the next 4 days using AI, Google Lens and Google Earth trying to find that building. Finally, I thought I had the spot.

That weekend I left home around 3am and got to the beach around 5. I couldn’t drive on the beach, so I walked two miles down the coastline.

A couple hours later I reached the end of the island where I thought surely I’d find her.

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

I was mentally beat up, thinking about how miserable that two-mile walk back was about to be.

I started heading back when I saw a truck and a few guys in the distance.

This has to be it.

I started running.

Finally I reached them and sure enough, there she was.

After years of searching, THERE SHE WAS.

We sat about 100 yards away and watched her for the next 7 hours. She barely moved, and somehow I didn’t care. It was enough.

These aren’t the images that had been haunting my dreams for years, but sitting there watching her was better than any shot I could’ve taken.

Maybe it was because I’d searched for her for so long, or because my late grandmother was on my mind that morning (literally praying out loud to my Gram to bless me with the Owl), but that encounter felt unlike any other.

It’s only the third time a photo mission has brought me to tears.

I sat on these photos not because I don’t love them, but because I knew they deserved some thoughts I hadn’t been ready to express.

When I tell you I cannot wait to search for her again, I CANNOT WAIT TO SEARCH FOR HER AGAIN. by @unclejut

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a month ago

by @unclejut

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2 months ago

An American Goldfinch perched on the wild flowers I planted earlier this spring by @unclejut

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2 months ago

36 hours before I took these photos, I was picking these plants up from the garden center; and I think that’s pretty dope 🐝 by @unclejut

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3 months ago

by @unclejut

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4 months ago

by @unclejut

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4 months ago

poetry in motion by @unclejut

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6 months ago

time stood still by @unclejut

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7 months ago

miss you. by @unclejut

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7 months ago

the shortest month was the longest month… taken in New Jersey by @unclejut

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7 months ago

Far from the perfect photos, but photos nonethelessless…

Every time I go out I try chasing “the perfect shot”, but it’s always the moments themselves that turn out to be the real rewards. And even on the rare occasion I do snap an a+ shot, it never quite matches what/how I felt when I hit the shutter.

The constant pursuit, though learning to pause and appreciate before moving on to the next… by @unclejut

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9 months ago