Close to home

A lot of times people think they need to go to faraway locations to get good nature photographs. Yeah it is fun to go someplace new, but you don't need to in order to find nature to photograph. Shooting close to home has several advantages. If you are familiar with your home turf you know where to go when the conditions are just right, you don't have to spend time scouting. You also know what there is to photograph when...what flowers are blooming, what wildlife you are likely to find, etc. A couple of places close to home to get started...local parks and your backyard. Both of these locations can provide great photo ops. Give yourself an assignment, photograph one park throughout the year and your backyard. I think you will be surprised at what you come up with. I've got 2 sets of photos included with this post, the first taken in my backyard earlier this summer and the second shot at Marlatt Park, one of my favorite spots and only about 10 min from my house.

Enjoy!

The scene that created an obsession

When I first started doing nature photography I used to go out on Marlatt Ave looking for photos. It is still one of my favorite places to go out and shoot (although the area is sadly starting to be "developed"). One evening, probably 12 years ago or so, I was just sitting in my vehicle listening to some quail and coyotes after a evening of shooting. I was facing east where an old windmill sat in a pasture along the road. As I was sitting there I noticed a strange glow on the horizon, I had no idea what it could be. Then, right beside the windmill the moon appeared and slowly rose into the sky. It was amazing. I grabbed my camera and started shooting like crazy. Unfortunately I didn't really know what I was doing back then and none of my photos came out (all were over exposed despite bracketing). Seeing the moon rise like that was something I'll never forget. And I was hooked on the idea of photographing the moon rising. Now each month I try to make it a point to go out around the time of the full moon and get some moon shots. Over the years, I went back to that exact spot on Marlatt Ave to try and get the moon rising by that windmill. I even had a friend that did some calculations for me to predict when the moon would rise in that area. I was never able to line the moon up by that windmill again. But on this past April 19th I was driving back into town on Marlatt Ave and finally saw the moon rising beside the windmill, almost in the exact spot I had seen all those years ago. Sadly the top of the windmill was removed a few years ago so the scene wasn't what I was hoping for. But I did get my shot in the end.

You can see more of my moon shots in my galleries here.

Back to Marlatt Park

I was recently at Marlatt Park with one of my photography classes. I really like this small park, it always impresses me. The park had recently been burned and was just starting to green up.

After leaving the park, I drove out of town a bit on Marlatt Park for some sunset shots and some pics of the moon rising. You can view a few of the shots here.

Thanks for looking!

Marlatt Park Photos taken on 6-14-07

I took my photography class to Marlatt Park (south side) for this week's field trip. This is one of my favorite places to go for a short walk with Buddy (the best dog ever!). The park is very pretty and a good place to photograph wildflowers and birds. Buddy and I have seen deer, turkeys, quail, and owls there while walking. I've posted s few of the pics from this trip here.