A photographer in Delaware is hoping his photos of birds go the distance.

Two of his photographs have him in the running for Bird Photographer of the Year.

Tyler Smiley is from Chester County and he lives in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, where he spends lots of time photographing birds.

Two photos he took of sanderlings on the beach and at a state park put him in the finals.

Here are the photos that advanced to the final round of judging. Take a look in the video above at some of his other nature shots.

He’ll find out if he won in September.

There were more than 24,000 submissions for the Bird Photographer of the Year competition and this was Tyler’s first time entering.

In the meantime, Tyler’s just enjoying the moment. He’s been dabbling in nature photography for a few years after he bought his first semiprofessional digital camera back in 2017.

He said he’s just fascinated by the biodiversity of birds you can find at the Delaware beaches.

One of his photos was taken really early in the morning and you can see the animal’s footprints heading into the sand dunes.

Tyler says he took the photo during the blue hour, which is the time of day before sunrise or after sunset when you get a little bit of glow from the rising or setting sun, but you can still make out the stars in the sky and there’s a beautiful blue hue to it.

He says photos like this show the power of storytelling through photography. You can create your own story about what made those tracks and why it may have been there.

Tyler shared some tricks of the trade, so you can take your own bird photos.

He says first, you have to remember that birds are living things and won’t always cooperate with you, so you might have to find the bird quite a few times to get the shot you imagined.

Another idea is to take what the bird gives you. He says it may not be what you imagined for the shot, but it could still turn out to be an amazing moment that you caught.