To the id, I am a wildlife photographer and biologist, to the world I am a biology teacher posing as a nature photographer. In this movie, the credits are meaningless, as reality suggests that both contain a grain of truth. Multiple degrees in biology and years of field research validate one credential, while 23 years in the classroom support the other. The biologist is a teacher and the teacher is a biologist; yet we are both a photographer. The latter is my passion, but this commitment to photography is rooted in the former. The pursuit of nature through a lens began as a way to document research, and this same pursuit continues to support my work as a teacher. The images I make are proud possessions woven into lessons, but more than this, they are the raw material for my stories. Tales of survival, evolution, ecology and adventure are painted with photographs. This library of images say that life is real, while the stories claim that it is about the journey. A man of three passions; biology, teaching and photography are the points of my equilateral triangle. Each is connected to the other, all have equal value and weight to the id.
About the Images: This series of images were made near a beaver lodge I found during the winter while hiking through a nearby forest. Having seen trails through the icy pond, I realized that this was a very active lodge and made plans to visit as spring approached. For the past two weeks I have arrived on site by 6:00 a.m. just as the sun was beginning to cross the horizon. With at least three mature beavers, this pond is a near ideal place to study a variety of behaviors that include territoriality, predator avoidance and environmental engineering. In the interim between autumn and the present, the boundary of this pond has expanded despite a persistent draught. This observation is physical evidence that we humans are not the only species capable of manipulating the environment to meet some fundamental need.
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