The drive to New York only took about 11 hours. I would've made it in 10 hours if it wasn't for an accident blocking two lanes of traffic. I arrived at the Best Western around 2:30pm and ran into Art Morris in the lobby. He called me Dave. Ouch!
Monday night was introduction meeting where Art and his partner Denise displayed some of their images and went over the plan for the next three days. Denise's images were pretty impressive.
As far as temperatures go, the first day was the warmest. The first day also killed me. Between the heat, being out of shape and sick, I needed help back to my car. From then I played it safe. The worse day was the third day. Morning temps were barely in the 60's and the winds were gusting up to around 30 mph.
The photography was great. Because of majority of time being under clouds, the group was pretty much out all day. There were terns, skimmers and oyster catchers everywhere. Even with about 14 in our group, it never felt that large. With Art and Denise there, asking a question or listening for advice was never a problem.
The only major mistake I made during the trip was setting my ISO to 3200, and not knowing about it, while photographing the Sanderlings. I came out with some great images, but the noise is just to much for me.
The funnest part for me was at the pond at the end of the parking lot. In a slight rain, I think I shot a couple hundred images alone just photographing the Skimmers and Terns as they dove and bathed in the water.
Being my first time there, it was a learning experience. My plan is to return again next year and being a year wiser, come away with even more great images.
