I sat quietly as the first hues of the eastern sky began to beckon the approach of a new day. I could hear ducks and geese off in the distance as they sounded the coming of dawn. I continued to listen and watch and I could hear some movement around me, first here and then there. Slowly the sun rose and the first rays of light broke through the trees and danced across the lake. Colors of red, orange, yellow, and blue were all around.

Last night the first cool front of the season had arrived and I could see the steam rising off of the lake. Yes, summer was starting to fade and fall was approaching ever so fast. Each passing day brought more and more colors to the tree leaves. It was such a pretty time of year, with cool mornings and warm afternoons, a great time to be outdoors.

Soon the birds filled to air with early morning music and I thought to myself, what a beautiful and peaceful time of day. Then I was brought back to reality when I heard the first dog bark, and someone yelled, and the horns of passing motorist began to blow as they hurried to work. No, I'm not in Alaska, or one of our National Parks, or on some big lake. Many of us are not able to travel to far off places due to our work and family responsibilities, yet we enjoy being outdoors and we enjoy being able to take photographs of nature.

Nature photographers sometimes get what I refer to as the old tunnel vision of - can't see the forest for the trees, and I'm no exception to the rule. Often we get caught up in wanting, wishing, and dreaming of going to all those wonderful places we've read about, we forget about our own backyard. The next thing you know our camera equipment has got spider webs growing on it, from not being used, when we should have been out photographing spider webs. In fact, nature photography is as close as your back door.

There are all kinds of animals, birds, insects, and plant life just waiting to pose for your camera. Most parks will have birds, squirrels, chipmunks, insects, and flowers. Many will have a pond(s) or lake(s) and plenty of ducks and/or geese. These are great places for you to develop your skills and learn how to use your equipment. The challenges of photographing your subject(s) will be just as demanding on your talents as it would be if you where on that once in a lifetime photography trip. Besides, wouldn't it be better to learn your skills and make your mistakes close to home, than to be on that once in a life time trip and forget how to operate your wonderful do it all camera?

What if you don't have a park near where you live? Perhaps there is a vacant field nearby, or a farm where you can go and explore. What about the town just a few miles down the road, and don't forget about your backyard or your neighbor's backyard. In fact, you may be able to turn your backyard into a photographic wonderland. You can add bird feeders, plant wildflowers, and maybe build a small pond with a waterfall. Set up a photographic blind or area to photograph the many birds that come to your feeders. The flowers will attract insects, butterflies, and skippers for you to photograph. Who knows what will come to your watering hole to be photographed. With a little planning the photographic possibilities could be endless.

Today, I'm photographing birds in a nearby local park. I've got my 500mm lens and camera mounted on my tripod and a flash unit for TTL fill-in mounted on a bracket above the lens with a flash extender to increase the reach of my flash unit. I've found parks to be a great place to do bird photography since the birds are used to people being around. The one I'm at today has several feeders that the local residents help keep full of birdseed. In addition, there are several mallards, wood ducks, and geese on the lake, which affords me some additional subjects to photograph.

I just as easily could have been photographing insects, dew drops hanging from the many flowers, both domestic and wild, or perhaps dew covered insects and spiders in the early morning stillness. I could have photographed the sun as it was coming up or setting over the lake, or a scenic of the ducks and geese swimming on the lake with early morning or late afternoon lighting. In the spring there may have been baby ducks and geese to photograph and I always keep my eyes open for other inhabitants of the park as I'm walking around, such as turtles, rabbits, squirrels, lizards, and snakes.

What's that, you say your parks are full of people and children playing and running all around and making noise. That is true of most parks so you'll get no argument from me, but it has been my experience over the years that normally this is not a problem early in the mornings or during the week when most people are getting ready to go to work.

I've made thousands of photographs over the years in my backyard or within a short drive from my home. I've never been to Alaska, or Africa, or Yellowstone. Yet, I've been able to sell photographs that have been in books, calendars, several magazines and I'm represented by photo stock agencies. Would I like to go to all those wonderful places that I've read about? You bet I would, but until that time comes I'll continue to explore the unknown areas around me.

So get out your camera equipment, dust it off, clean the spider webs from it, read your manual, check your batteries, and enjoy exploring the natural world around you. Remember, It's a jungle out there!

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