The Artificial Naturalist

This is my first blog entry so I wanted to share with you why I take photographs.  Being a photographer is not always easy or even always fun.  The "stuff" we drag around is heavy, unwieldy, and very expensive.  For me photography  is all about sharing with you some piece of the world in a way that tells a story.  My hope is that in some way the image I capture touches you as it touches me.  This world is so beautiful, but being human beings we often see only the dark side.  I try to make my images so that they make me smile, or think, or cry, but always so they make me feel.  I hope they elicit the same reaction in you.

This picture was taken in Florida during a photo class I took recently.  It is of a bird called a Skimmer and it chick, which at the time was about one week old.  I hope you can sense the tenderness of the bird (I assume it is the mother) as it cares for the chick.  It was really a very wonderful moment and I hope it moves you as it moved me.  Many thanks to Moose Peterson for taking us to the location and for the encouragement to "get down on the sand" to get this shot. 

The Artificial Naturalist