Barbara Coll, Photographer

Funny to think of myself as a photographer.

Part of the engineering 'brain drain' from Canada; I moved from Ottawa, Ontario to Palo Alto, CA in the 80s. I was caught up in Silicon Valley madness for 30+ years, starting as a product manager at Sun Microsystems, quickly moving into marketing, and was lucky (?) to be early days in web/internet/digital marketing space. I happily retired from being the WebMama in 2017.

I pivoted into new things and added taking photographs to my bird watching hobby. The legal rights of women, local politics and bird habitat conservation are other passions keeping me busy in this encore stage of my careers. I have lived in the Willows, Menlo Park, CA since our son was born 31 years ago surrounding by the beautiful gardens and patio oasis my husband John has created for us. I spent lots of time traveling, including more and more time in Whistler, BC. Ironically, my son, lives in Ottawa and we visit 'home' often.

Why Birding?

Growing up we had a Peterson's field guide and my Dad would point out birds, snakes and animals that visited our cottage. The property was just outside Ottawa, Canada. Keeping up the tradition, My husband and I kept a species count in a Peterson's North American Bird book starting from our honeymoon onwards (1992). When Cornell launched ebird - especially the ability to add historical data - I was hooked.

Today!

I consider myself a professional photographer with a few sales and a few exhibits, My most recent passion has been ceramics. While I find I cannot make the same thing twice - whether on the wheel or handbuilding - I love the community at our local pottery studio.