Austin Bell Releases Bird Photobook
By Antionette Kerr/ Publisher
After two years of flocking with birds around the world, Davidson County native Austin Bell has combined his passion for nature and travel in a new book. His photo book titled “Birding: The First Two Years” features 88 pages and has over 225 bird pictures. The book has sightings from Davidson County, as well as Florida and far flung places like California, Australia and Ecuador.
Bell called the book a trophy. “I created the bird book as both sort of a ‘trophy room’ of the birds I've "collected" photos in the first two years I started birdwatching,” Bell said, “I also share some stories behind the birds and how I found them. I also just created it for my grandparents and friends to look through.”
Bell’s hobby somewhat took over his photography. “I started taking pictures of birds and doing serious birdwatching in 2018,” Bell explained. “Like anyone with this borderline unhealthy hobby, I have produced a copious amounts of photos of our avian friends.”
After graduating with a degree in psychology from Davidson College, Bell pursued a career in freelance photography writing and captioning editing in California and Florida. He worked in post-production for music videos and photography for horse shows before returning to Lexington in order to be near his parents and grandparents. Bell still finds time to travel for photography purposes.
The nature enthusiast announced the release of the book on his website.
“I’m very excited to announce the release of a book of bird photography from my first two years of birding,” Bell offered. “It contains all sorts of fun stories about how I got into tracking down birds and things I've learned in the process, including my amusing blunder on my first birding checklist, the time a bird landed on my head in Tokyo, how birding is like Pokemon and what the real state bird of Florida should be.”
Bell calls it “A rite of passage for any birder” to be fooled by certain breeds. He describes those within the pages. He shared exotic sighting of the Gray-headed Swamphen noting that South Florida is the only place you can reliably see them.
The book is available for sale for $45 USD.
You can purchase the book at www.bellaustin.com or via email at email@bellaustin.com.
