Happy Anniversary!!

One year ago on this day DanWeiszPhotography.com came to life

I had been sharing my photo emails with friends and family and others for over a decade. Over the years, the mailing list got larger and larger. That was exciting for me but eventually I recognized that I needed to modernize. With the help of a wonderful advisor, the DanWeiszPhotography website was created along with a system to help smooth the delivery of these photo emails through Substack, an online platform. Exactly one year ago, on December 22, 2024, my first email was sent on Substack.

Since then, my readership has increased by over 50% with readers now in 34 states and 14 countries. I continue to strive to send out a newsletter every two to three days but I keep to my own schedule. It is important to me that this never becomes a “job” or a “have-to”. I enjoy sharing my photos and telling my stories and I do so on my own timeline and when I like.

One service that Substack provides me is a variety of data and feedback. With that information, today I’m sharing what you, the readers, have let me know were your favorite posts. This is sort of my “Top Ten” of the Year list taken from the over 130 posts I created during this first year. The first five posts below are the ones with the highest percentage of “open rate”. That means that the post was opened and read. You can click on the underlined title to be taken to the original post.

The most highly opened post was titled 4000 Miles From Home, about Snow Geese I saw in December 2024. These Snow Geese come to Tucson from the North Slope of Alaska or along the Arctic Circle, joining the many human Snowbirds who also winter here in Tucson.

The next most opened post was A Successful Snipe Hunt, featuring wintering Wilson’s Snipes seen at Sweetwater Wetlands last January

In February, Cardinals on a Cholla Skeleton was a hit with many photos of Cardinals in my backyard. People love Cardinals.

Many Berries but Just One Little Bird featured a Verdin feasting on the Pistache Berries in Fort Lowell Park

One of a Kind had looks at some unique birds that happened to be in Tucson last winter along with a very special plant.

The next five posts were the ones that had the most “eMails opened, which is different from Open Rate. “eMails opened” registers the number of times someone looked at the post. So if someone read the post several times, each time is noted. These are the most viewed posts from this past year:

The most viewed post was A Tourist in My Own Town, the recent post on the murals seen along Fourth Avenue.

Next most viewed post was Circle of Life With a Hawk in which a Red-tailed Hawk worked to swallow a Sonoran Gopher Snake before our eyes.

Some Very Cute Local Owls, in August, featured young and very cute Burrowing Owls.

Drip, Drip, Drip showed a variety of birds in the Chiricahuas drinking water from a drip station in a backyard in Portal, Arizona.

Cardinals on a Cholla Skeleton, mentioned above, was also one of the top “emails opened” posts. The link to this post was shared above.

I do want to mention one more post. One of Tucson’s Gems, on March 7, featured a look at a visit to a very special and unique museum in Tucson. The Ignite Sign Art Museum was a stunning collection of neon signs and Americana from Tucson and across the nation. That post was the 10th most popular post in both categories: most viewed and most opened. Sadly, on October 18th, a fire raged through the museum, destroying much of the collection. You can read about this sad event here and here. If you wish to support the Museum Recovery Fund, you can do so at their website.

It has been a good year for me with this newsletter and my website. I am looking forward to another great year of wandering around Southern Arizona and sharing my photos and stories with you.