Saturday, June 24, 2006

Catching up ....






Hello, trying to catch up, as I have not been able to post as often on my blog page as I would have liked in the past 2 weeks. Memorial Weekend Photo opportunities were pretty good although not the best. I was able to capture some lady slippers and a few loon photographs at camp, even though the rain has been on and off for the last 3 weeks (mostly on)! The birds and ducks are happy with all this rain, but it does not make for good photography outings for sure. Even the flowers in my garden are starting to develop rain rot. Not good at all. For all you floral lovers, here are a few of the lady slipper photographs I was able to capture at Beaver Park in Lisbon, ME. Even on this day it was partly cloudy and the pictures did not come out as bright as I would have liked. For those of you who enjoy florals you can visit my website at http://www.animalsinpastels.com/floral-photography.html this link will bring you to my floral page to view some of the other flowers I have captured over the years . At home I have been busy with my own garden and have tried to keep up with the weeds, when the rain has stopped. This is a picture of our back yard garden that we built when we removed our old above ground pool several years ago.
This is a beautiful place to enjoy the sound of the water fountain and hear the birds singing while eating breakfast and to also retire in the evenings in our enclosed screened gazebo watching the sun set. (The screen gazebo is the only way to enjoy the outdoors in the evening in Maine as the black flies and mosquitoes will surly carry you away) hee hee. For you loon lovers who have been keeping up with my earlier posting. Yes, I was able to capture some great loon photographs last weekend. Actually the only weekend out of 3 that did not rain all weekend. The photograph below is one I captured last Sunday while at camp, with this years new loons chicks just hatched. This baby is about one and a half weeks old. I was also fortunate to capture a few shots with a loon chick on the parents back, but will have to wait to finish the film before I can share those with you. Speaking about loons, sales for my "Loons of Tacoma Lakes" book are still growing strong. It has been nearly 2 months since I published my new book and we have reached just under $4,000.00 in distribution and sales so far. Hopefully by the end of the fall season we will start to show a profit, as all money goes to pay the printer bill first. It has been a great learning experience publishing my own book and I will probably do it again. Please if anyone tells you that you can make a lot of money writing and publishing a full color book, do not believe them. The truth is, it will be 2 years before we see any real profits and that is if sales continue to be strong throughout this season and into Christmas. Honestly though, it was a labor of love for me to write this loon book and I still continue to enjoy the marketing part, although to be truthful, taking the photographs are much more enjoyable. For those of you who have not seen my new book, click on this link: Loons of Tacoma Lakes . It will direct you to my website where you can view some of the photographs that were published in my book while listening to the calls of the loons in the background. Here you will also be able to read the preface page, back cover bio and some of the review comments. If you are interesting in purchasing a copy for yourself or for a loon lover in your family, please email me at LoonsofTacoma@aol.com and I would be happy to mail you a signed copy (free shipping and handling is still available for single orders in the US). For those of you who will be in the area of Lisbon Falls, Maine on July 7th & 8th, stop by at the Moxie Festival on Friday evening July 7th between 4 and 7 PM. I am scheduled for a two day book signing event at the Teen Center on Main Street located between the fire station and the bank. For those of you who will only be attending the festival on Saturday , I will also be available between 10 PM and 2 PM sharing space with the Lisbon Library book fair, at the teen center. I promise to bring a few of my new photographs as bookmarkers and 4x6 photo magnets for all you loon lovers out there. Looking forward to seeing you at the book signing during the Moxie Festival. Until then, take care, have fun and pray for sunshine! Sandy

Thursday, June 08, 2006

New additions to the family....

Hello,
Just wanted to say that I am happy to start my new blog spot, to be able to keep in touch with everyone and let you know what's new. I wanted to announce that I have just published my new loon book called "Loons of Tacoma Lakes" and wanted to report that sales have been very promising for the first month. I have sold and distributed over $3,200.00 throughout Maine since my book was first published on April 28th and I have enjoyed reading all the wonderful comments that everyone has emailed and mailed to me. I also wanted to thank Edward Turner of Bidderford, for his glowing review of my new book in the Book Nook section "On Maine Writers" in the Sunday - Sun Journal Newspaper on June 4th.

If you would like to purchase a copy of my new loon book, you can visit your local book store and ask if they have it available or order it directly from the author (myself) for $24.95 (note my promotional special on my website: free shipping and handling in the US for the first 100 copies). To order, just email : LoonsofTacoma@aol.com, let me know your shipping address and if you would like me to autograph a copy for you. Send check or money order made out to Sandra Huston or Animals in Pastels, mail to my studio at 162 Main St. Lisbon Falls, ME 04252. Maine residents please add 5% sales tax (1.25). You should receive your book in 7 business days. Below are just a few of the review comments I have received so far:

" You have created a very special volume. It is much more than a book of beautiful photographs of loons. The Completeness of the description of the life of the loons makes this a very superior volume, very unique. "

" Your week by week journaling of this aspect of nature is fantastic, educational and profound. I welcome this gem to my classroom library."

"My wife and I wish to compliment you on your fine work. We thoroughly enjoyed your book celebrating the love of loons and will cherish it for many, many years to come."

If you would like more information about my book you can visit my website at www.animalsinpastels.com click on the loon book cover at the top of the page and it will bring you to a dedicated page where you will hear calls of the loons in the background while reading about my new book and view some of the photographs published. Loons of Tacoma Lakes is a book documenting the raising of two loon chicks from 3 weeks old to when they are fully fledged and ready to fly. There are 40- 5x7 full color photographs in this large format 72 page book. My books make perfect gifts and a beautiful addition to any loon lovers library.

Besides working on marketing my new book I have been busy taking care of the new additions to our family. Two- Five year old pygmy goats: Butterbean and Pepper. These little munchkins are fun to watch and have bonded very well with my Morgan mare "Rosie" in the month they have been with us. Below is a picture of them grazing in our back pasture.


On Memorial weekend my husband and I were busy at camp on Woodbury Pond opening up our RV camper, cleaning and attaching the screened in porch. This is where I photographed all the pictures for my book(Tacoma Lakes) and will continue with documenting the loons again this year. I did notice that one of the breeding pairs is still nesting and the chicks had not hatched yet. Even as late as last weekend when we drove by the inlet during the rain on June 4th she was still sitting on the nest. Hopefully this weekend the rain will end and I will be able to kayak around the ponds and capture some more new and exciting photographs of the new babies just hatched. I promise to upload a few for you loon lovers out their to view if I capture a special one. Until then, take care, and have fun.

Sandy