Many people photograph nature. It's an obvious choice. Colorful flowers are lovely, sunsets are romantic, close-ups of bugs are totally cool. When I photograph nature, it is because I see something that moves me. I too am guilty of creating the cheesy, typical pretty flower photos, making myself feel like an eigthy year-old hobby botanitst. But I usually try to put some sort of spin on my nature pics or add my own perspective.
If you know me personally, you know I am originally from Northwest Indiana. I grew up on weekend summer visits to the Indiana Dunes. We would swim all day, wearing t-shirts as our only form of sunscreen. We'd pause from sand castle building and "playing shark" just long enough to eat mushy sandwiches that, no matter how tightly my mom wrapped them, always seemed to have grains of sand in each bite. I love everything about the dunes, even the unsightly steel mills in the distance.
I think it may have been as a result fo some school fiend trip that I learned the marram grasses of the Dunes are an endangered and vital species to the survival of sand dunes. They're sort of sacred and we're taught not to pluck, stomp, or otherwise harm this seemingly boring grass because it is part of what keeps the sand in place. Now, I just photograph it as a fond memory of my childhood and out of reverence for our treasured lakeshore.
Next week, I am a volunteer Photographer for National Geographic's Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore BioBlitz. This is an event where skilled scientists, experts, and school groups seek out, identify, count, and catalog the thousands of plant and animal species in the area. I look forward to capturing interesting photos of native plants and critters, enthralled scientists, and amused school kids... All adoring and further preserving the precious gems of wildlife and recreation that sit in Chicago's backyard.
Hooray for nature and the Dunes (even if it is flanked by steel mills, industrial waste, and exclusive homes)!
Brigette
Outer Focus Photos
www.outerfocusphotos.com
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