I had the experience of a lifetime during a wonderful trip let by Scott Portelli to the Falkland Islands. Scott recently won Wildlife Photographer of the year and his work is stellar. He's also a wonderful leader who only helps and never gets in the way. I highly recommend him. His site is Swimming with Gentle Giants.

I wasn't prepared or planning to get into the water while in the Falklands. I got in twice, once when a wave took me out while I was trying to set up a GoPro to catch Gentoo Penguins jumping from the sea onto the rocks.

On this occasion, Scott and Markus Davids, another professional underwater photographer, had just come back from swimming with some baby Elephant Seals. On another part of the island National Geographic was filming Orca's having them for lunch! Scott encouraged me to borrow his gear and go out for a swim, assuring me it was safe. I jumped at the chance and boy was I happy I did. It was a little scary being approached by these large animals but being the trusting soul that I am, although sometimes getting frisky, they bore me no ill will and finally got tired of playing with me and went off to nap again. Thanks Scott, I can't thank you enough!

Tags:   Scott Portelli Swimming with Gentle Giants Elephant Seals juveniles Falkland Islands underwater

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Common Tern fledlging begging for food
{ Rybitwa zwyczajna, Sterna hirundo }
Long Island, NY
Ania Tuzel© All rights reserved - No Unauthorized Use.

600 mm - f/7.1 - 1/1000- ISO 500

Many thanks for your visit and comments :) Have a great
Saturday!

Tags:   Sterna Hirundo fledgling Common Tern Bird photography Ania Tuzel© beach Long Island New York young bird Rybitwa zwyczajna nature chick wildlife Canon

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NGC 6914 Nebula Complex

My latest picture from the backyard is NGC 6914 in Cygnus! You may have seen this object in your wide-field Cygnus shots near the bright star Sadr.

I have always noticed those glowing 'blue eyes', but had never dedicated a project to them until now. I spent a lot of time processing this one to get it right... I hope you like it!

Session 1 & 2:

Camera: bit.ly/3XuHoMJ
Filter: bit.ly/3EnvQ3t
Telescope: bit.ly/4dKKDFb
Mount: bit.ly/49Pug8w
170 x 2-minutes (5 Hours, 40 Minutes)

Session 3:

Camera: bit.ly/3ISZcsY
Filters: bit.ly/47dnTv2
90 x 2 minutes each filter (3 Hours)

Tags:   nebula stargazing stars universe sky

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I saw how the sunlight reached down between the trees to touch the tiny plants. We are loved more than we will ever know.
–J. Lynn

Tags:   RoseofSharon we are loved sunlight PeeblesPair sunbeam byRaeLawson Peeblespair Photography

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A trio of swans at Market Lake on a cloudy day.

Tags:   animals birds nature water wildlife

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