Attempt

10 JANUARY, 2025

Mostly, I tend to post the best photo from batches of 100s or more that I take each day, but this one is an exception. I had heard blue jays screaming in my backyard before, and even glimpsed them briefly landing across the yard on a fence post, but I had never seen one just perch in the tree before; so in my excitement, and a need to be ready to rush into a work meeting, I used my 50mm lens instead of the zoom and did what I could to capture the beautiful bird through the window at a great distance. It wasn't until I uploaded the photo later that morning that I realized I had forgotten to avoid including my daughter's swing in the shot. I nearly chose to post something else, but I'm glad I didn't because this one is a great reminder to me that not every shot is ideal or even pretty, and yet every single one can have meaning.