2020, here I come!

2019 has been a very busy, but also a very exciting, year for me.

After being extremely surprised by the reaction to my first ever bird calendar in 2018, where I planned to print 10 copies, but ended up selling 150, I grew in confidence with regard to my bird photography. Having a large social media following definitely helped, in fact it was thanks to my loyal Twitter followers that I decided to write and compile my first book, '100 Birds', as many of them had suggested the idea in the first place, and even more of them kindly donated to the costs of having the book printed and published.

Since the book became available about a month ago, I have sold about 330 copies of it, which I'm truly amazed about! The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive too.

In addition to the book, I've also sold many postcards, greeting cards, canvases and mounted prints of my work, and even some magnets, mugs and t-shirts! I feel very lucky indeed!

I've been taking photos of birds for almost 14 years, and never planned to sell my work. It was a hobby that I was passionate about, and I loved sharing the nature of the Somerset Levels and their surroundings on different photo sharing sites, firstly Fotothing, then Flickr, and now Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

I've also had a blog for a few years, where I share all my latest photos, but for some reason, the hosting site, 'Blogspot', was blocked by Facebook and Instagram, so I couldn't share my blog to my accounts on these social media networks, in fact, Facebook even deleted 5 years worth of my photo uploads because they included my blog link!

So I finally decided to have my own website, and I've been working on it all day today, the 31st December 2019, New Years Eve and the last day of the decade.

I don't know what 2020 will bring bird photography-wise, but whatever it brings, I hope you'll join me all the way!

Happy New Year!

May all your dreams come true in 2020!

Carl