As spring slowly seeps into the woods of the north country I am anxiously anticipating the many photographic opportunities and am hopeful that this spring will yield some of my best images. Part of the reason for my optimism is the chance to apply lessons learned at the North American Nature Photographers Association (NANPA) annual summit. The macro session by Les Saucier taught me so much about close up photography. Do you know that specialized flashlights, clamps and diffusers can greatly improve close up photographs?

So, when the trilliums, wake robins, trout lilies, showy lady slippers, pink lady slippers, spring beauties, bloodroot, Dutchman's britches, hepatica and the many woodland wildflowers spring up I will be ready with my camera.  The image to the right of the wild leeks pushing up through the snow was taken two springs ago.  I guess it could be entitled "Winter or Spring?"

North American Nature Photographers Summit - Wrap Up

In order to improve my photography I joined NANPA and took the opportunity to travel to their annual summit in Albuquerque, New Mexico in February. Not only did I learn a lot, the energy and enthusiasm of more than 600 photographers was contagious. From the opening social and meeting other photographers through Art Wolfe's inspirational keynote address and Norbert Rosing's wonderful photos from more than 30 years in the Arctic it was a wonderful summit.

In addition to the NANPA Summit I was able to take a little time to take in some of the photographic hotspots in New Mexico. I spent several days with thousands of snow geese and sandhill cranes and hundreds of photographers at Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. Then it was on to White Sands National Monument near Alamogordo, New Mexico (see below)  The gypsum sand dunes there are like no other place in the world.  I also took side trips to Cloudcroft, New Mexico which is at 9,000 feet elevation in the Sacramento Mountains and Three Rivers Petroglyphs a site of 600 year old Indian rock art. It was reported that over 21,000 petroglyphs exist in the area.  More of the images have been posted to my blog.

Upcoming Presentations

In addition to a presentation at a meeting of the North Country Trail Association, Grand Traverse Hiking Club Chapter on April 21, 2009 at 7PM at the Munson Community Health Center Classrooms A&B (MAP).  I have just accepted an invitation to speak at the AuSable River Expo in Grayling, Michigan on April 25th.  I will be speaking on how to improve your photography at both events. Perfect timing to learn a few new tricks before the spring wildflower season and summer are finally upon us.

I will soon be applying for summer art shows including the Cadillac Art Fair on July 17th and 18th and the Traverse Bay Outdoor Art Fair on July 25th.

If you know of someone whom you think would like to subscribe to my newsletter please e-mail me with their e-mail address. The newsletter is free, hopefully informative and subscriptions can be discontinued at any time.  Also, comments are always welcome.  I will leave you with two more images; a red poll (bottom right) on a cold day and a showy lady slipper which is one of my favorite wildflowers.

Thank you for taking the time to allow me to share my photography with you. As always, I will try to keep capturing images to share and posting on my website at www.tomhaxbyphotos.com .  There will be shows this summer and I still have images at the Downtown Frame Up in Traverse City. I am also featured as one of their photographers on their new website. Several of my images are on display at The Dish Cafe on Union Street in Traverse City. The cover of the 2009 Traverse City Community Directory features one of my most popular images.