Until I became a photographer I did not fully realize how blessed we are to live in this part of the country. Yes, we've got the beaches and an absence of snow, ice and endless winters. But we have hurricanes and high humidity. We can't forget that! Nevertheless, we have such beauty around us every day of the year. Until I got my 100-400mm telephoto lens I didn't pay a lot of attention to birds. I couldn't do them justice with my other lenses so I stuck to what I thought I could do well. My world has opened up in a big way!
Now that I have a new camera body (I wore out the shutter release on the previous one) I am able to safely photograph down near the beach if I'm reasonably careful. The Canon 50D is a great deal more weather sealed than the 30D that I had last. Now I'm discovering trails and birds and alligators right in the middle of everything! The photographs in this album were taken right along Highway 59 in the middle of downtown Gulf Shores, Alabama at the Wade Ward Nature Center. It constantly amazes me what is close around us all the time and we often don't take the time and effort to see God's incredible creation!
