Picture This: A Hobby Gone Wild

The Lowcountry's most colorful bird, the Painted Bunting

Turning What You Love into What You Do
By Patrick J. O’Connor

Retired Boomers are everywhere, doing all sorts of interesting things. Lots of volunteering, traveling, visiting children and grandchildren, and enriching communities fill up the “to-do” lists of many Boomers these days. And you never know when you’re going to bump into retired Boomers turning what they love into what they do. A chance meeting with Ron Scroggy is a good example.

Ron and I met at his presentation, “A Hobby Gone Wild”, which he made to the Edisto Art Guild in South Carolina. The presentation was based on his book, “A Collection of Lowcountry Birds, Volume I”. He has taken his photography hobby (and passion) to a whole new level. It has enabled him to enjoy a satisfying retirement lifestyle doing what he loves. A childhood passion Ron had was to be a wildlife photographer. However, “life” sort of happened and he found himself immersed in career and raising a family. The passion would have to wait. Perhaps for retirement.

What Next?
Photographing beautiful birds, authoring a book and doing presentations about them was hardly on Ron’s radar after retiring in 2017. In fact, he was unsure what he was going to do with all his time as he approached retirement. He had always been so busy with work, coaching soccer (both children and grandchildren), church, family, and community service events. Along the way, he earned social work degrees from Georgia State and the University of Georgia. As a human services administrator, each of Ron’s days were packed with activities. He was a hospital  administrator for 22 years, CEO for 12, and directed 15,000 employees at the Georgia Department of Family and Children’s Services. Plus, he lived in bustling metro Atlanta with commutes filled with congestion and sunshine slowdowns. Now he would be relocating to a small, remote island. Retirement is often a time of considerable change and adjustment. 

A Passionate Hobby
Ron decided to fill in the lost work time with photography and other retirement activities. In addition to his hobby, Ron and Linda travel extensively, including trips to Africa and one to Alaska with their grandchildren. He also devotes time to community and church activities in his new location. He’s active in preservation groups that support wildlife and nature. He really enjoys the variety of his retirement activities.

The hobby started out slowly and grew to become a big part of what Ron does daily. He now has as many as 80,000 photographs, mostly of birds. The hobby then grew into a photography book on birds, which led to giving presentations to various groups. The presentation I attended was one of many Ron has done educating people on the beauty of the South Carolina Lowcountry known for wildlife, natural beauty, and abundance of birds. One place you often find Ron and his camera is Edisto Island, which is a small, family vacation place near Charleston. Ron and Linda camped at Edisto State Park on their honeymoon in 1977 and his family annually visited there until his retirement in 2017. 

Patience Pays Off
Ron enjoys the quiet time that comes with his hobby. This is quite a contrast to his full-time administrative career, which could be very stressful. In some ways, his photography provides a therapeutic value. Enjoying nature, sunrises, sunsets, turtles, and birds enriches the spirit, as well.

Most of Ron’s expertise in photography is self-taught coupled with a lot of experience and time invested in  watching and waiting. A lot of waiting since capturing birds in nature requires considerable time and patience. The photographer must be in the right place at the right time and wait for the best moment to capture the beauty of birds in their natural habitat. 

A hobby is “a regular activity done for enjoyment, typically during leisure time.” Hobbies often serve as an outlet for people during their work lives as well as retirement. It is an extension of who someone is and fits with a healthy lifestyle like exercise and good diet. Some retirees feel a lack of purpose after retiring and miss the socialization that comes from full-time work. For many retirees, an outlet can fill this void. More information on the value of an outlet can be found on the blog segment, The Essential Outlet  – northeastohiothrive.com.

“Be a Hopegiver” – Ron’s Motto
Ron intends to build on the momentum from his hobby. He’s in conversation with several other artists and writers about creating a book on the beauty, culture and traditions of the Lowcountry. Most likely, a few photographs of birds will find their way into that book. 

Ron has always been someone who has made an impact. His career supporting human services in Georgia is testimony to that. He loved the career he had and now loves his retirement lifestyle. He’s taken  a hobby and turned it into what he loves. The childhood dream has become a reality. 

All photos by Ron Scroggy