It is always gratifying and exciting to be accepted into a national juried art show. But then there are those shows one truly pines for. You submit your images, pay the fee, and wait with bated breath. And when that email comes with “invited” at the top… “Yippee!” whether anyone else is around to hear it or not.

So imagine me when not merely one but TWO of my images were accepted into the 5th Biennial Wings & Water national juried exhibit conducted by River Arts, Inc. in Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin!

One of the reasons that show means so much to me is that it serves as a kind of measure of my work in the rather new to me area of bird photography. Bird are notoriously challenging to photograph. A “better shot” is always possible, and I think that is precisely why it becomes such an obsession.

Even better, the folks at River Arts are not just interested in the image; they also invite the story that goes with the image. That totally speaks to me. My best images always have stories to go with them, especially #CreatureEncounter images like those of birds.

It truly pleases me to know that viewers of the 5th Biennial will get to read about sneaking up on that anhinga in my kayak, and the cat-and-mouse game I played with the osprey along the highway doing my best to “get the shot” without over-stressing the bird.

BTW, the osprey story is already a draft chapter in my book-in-progress and the anhinga story will most likely end up there, too.

The 5th Biennial Wings & Water exhibit will be at River Arts, 590 Water St., in Prairie du Sac, January 20 – March 11, 2022.