I have always been one who liked learning.  I suppose it’s in my genes since both of my parents were teachers, my maternal Grandfather was a chemist, and my paternal Grandfather was a poet.  I was one of those kids who actually liked school, especially once I got into college and graduate school.  I probably could have been a lifelong student if there was a way to make a living at it.  I can still think of half a dozen things, probably more, that I wouldn’t mind studying.  So it’s no surprise that I like taking classes and tutorials, and I have learned a lot by taking many of them.  I also like learning as I go through everyday life, and one of the things I have really enjoyed is learning more about nature and photography.

Nature has always interested me, so when I took my first art class and discovered that I actually could draw, it wasn’t surprising that many of my compositions had something to do with nature or wildlife.  When I started taking nature photos, it was mainly to have my own reference images for drawing, but I discovered that I really liked doing photography.  But in order to get images that were good enough quality to print and share, I had some learning to do.  I dove into nature photography by taking classes, and getting outside as often as possible to practice, practice, practice.  I read published articles and put into play the things that made sense to me (I try most things I read about.  Some are helpful, and some are not).  I’m most definitely still learning and still practicing.

Once I decided that my work was getting decent, I decided to start my nature blog.  There was also very much a learning curve, there.  Just learning how to use the software took some time.  I started out doing species profiles every single day, and there was no shortage of new and interesting species to write about, but with time, I learned two things.  First, each species profile required a lot research to write, and between the research and the writing, it was becoming very time consuming.  The other thing was that I was writing too much!  People weren’t reading the posts because they were just too long.  So I decided to cut back on the profiles.  I now usually just present basic facts or interesting and unusual facts, and focus more on the story of the images.  That also allows me to show the same species more than once if there is an interesting story to tell.  Again, I’m still learning.

All in all, the last few years have been (and continue to be) an incredible learning experience.  I’ve learned to take better photos.  I’ve learned an amazing amount about many types of our local flora, fauna, and habitats.  I’ve learned to write better, more interesting blog posts.  And I have loved it every step of the way.  I look forward to continuing to learn, and that is a big part of what fuels my passion for nature photography and fine art.