Don’t bother asking me if I’m more of a birder or a photographer. I’ll just lie and tell you I find both topics “kind of boring.” It’s my clever smokescreen for completely sidestepping the birder/photographer rivalry. I prefer to identify as bird-activity neutral. I came to love both birds and cameras in a roundabout way, so I’ve always felt like something of a misfit. I got my start practicing the fine art of being a beach bum, taking pictures just to see the beaches I love in more detail, and studying the birds because they lived on those beaches and I was jealous of them. Back then, I didn’t even know there was such a thing as a birder and had never met a wildlife photographer. But that all changed in the winter of 2013 when 14 Snowy Owls showed up on my beach and scores of birders and photographers followed. Beach bumming is a lonely business, so I spent much of that winter giving them rides out to the owls in my Jeep. I learned so much from so many smart...