Entry Thingy

FLY SEAGULL FLY.

  Who knows when and where opportunity will knock.  
  And who knows where your next great picture will present itself.
  Take the picture above.  Just another seagull flying along the beach at South Padre Island, right?
  No - the pink sky kind of gives it away that this is a unique picture.  At the time, I was on vacation and had ventured out into the surf to take pictures of my son as he played among the waves.  It was a blazing hot summer day, and I was preoccupied with not dropping my iphone in the water.  Then a seagull darted about and zipped by me.  
  Instantly my artistic goal changed from taking pictures of my son, to trying to snap a picture of this elusive seagull.  I quickly realized how impossible this seemed though, as they flew by quickly and seldom within range.
  As is often the case with photography, patience is a virtue when trying to capture a subject.  If you conjure a great image in your mind as to what you hope to capture, it is hard to stop trying until you think you have achieved that result.  I stood there on the beach taking pictures of my son, but also trying to capture a close up picture of a seagull flying near the sun.  It seemed impossible, but I kept trying.
  Dozens of shots later, I took the above picture, and later through the magic of Photoshop I wound up with a seagull in a pink sky.  Yes, the shot probably would have worked with a crisp blue sky, but the whole image works best with... a pink sky.  Why not - how many pink sky pictures do you see every day?
  I had originally sat out that day with the intention of taking pictures of my son at the beach, but when opportunity presented itself, I switched gears and caught a picture of something completely different.  Then I took that image and created something unique.  Far from my original intention.
  Now you are probably asking yourself, what does this have to do with the blog title, Entry Thingy.  
  Good question - Entry Thingy is a website - www.entrythingy.com - in which people and organizations can set up an art contest and have a Call For Entries.  The website hosts the  art contest and takes a small cut for each entry submitted.  You can set up an art contest yourself right now if you have the inclination, and probably make a nice profit in doing so.  Neat business model, right?  
  To come full circle, opportunity presented itself, again, when I stopped by a local library while working one day and happened across a flyer on a bulletin board that was advertising a Call For Entry for an art contest being promoted by a local artist organization.  I had not entered an art contest in many many many years, but suddenly I felt the desire to want to enter my work.  And in trying to come up with an interesting mix of work to enter, I decided to enter the above picture - something different, unique and eye-catching.
  It has only been a week since I entered the contest, and but I expect to find out by the end of the week if the above picture, or any of the other four pieces of work I entered, made it into the art show.  If I do not have anything accepted into the art show I will not be disappointed, and instead I will just chalk it up to experience and it will be inspiration for me to try even harder to achieve the artistic goals I have set for myself.
  But if I do have anything accepted into the show, will be a great sense of accomplishment - and inspiration to continue trying hard to achieve my artistic goals.  And if I do have something accepted into the show, you will find out about it here first.  
  Wish me luck!