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The Alabama Nature Center at Lanark is open to the public the following weekends this Fall/Winter:

November 15-16

December 20-21

Special events are planned for each weekend. Mark your calendars now.

The Alabama Nature Center at Lanark is a 350-acre wildlife preserve that serves as the headquarters of the Alabama Wildlife Federation. It is located between Millbrook, AL and Prattville, AL, just north and east of exit 179 (Cobbs Ford Road) on I-65. The facility is currently only open to the public one weekend a month (the third weekend.)

If you are a nature buff, a photographer, or just like to catch some fresh air, you should take some time out of your weekend to visit and explore the facility. They've got over 5 miles of beautifully-built walking trails organized in 3 loops around the property. They are all marked with interpretive signs about the flora and fauna you'll see around you.

Price is currently $4/adult/day and $2/child (3-9)/day. Kids under 3 are free. They also have season pass pricing.

(Every third weekend of the month)
Saturday 8:00 am to 6:00 pm
Sunday 1:00 pm to 6:00 pm

Directions and more information can be found at the following link.

Alabama Nature Center @ Lanark

Photo Gallery >> Lanark
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My collection of things you'll only see in Alabama.

The Alabama Nature Center at Lanark is open to the public the following weekends this Spring:

April 12-13	May 3-4	June 14-15
April 19-20	May 17-18	June 21-22
April 26-27	May 24-25	June 28-29
	May 31-June 1

Special events are planned for each weekend. Mark your calendars now.

The Alabama Nature Center at Lanark is a 350-acre wildlife preserve that serves as the headquarters of the Alabama Wildlife Federation. It is located between Millbrook, AL and Prattville, AL, just north and east of exit 179 (Cobbs Ford Road) on I-65. The facility is currently only open to the public one weekend a month (the third weekend.)

If you are a nature buff, a photographer, or just like to catch some fresh air, you should take some time out of your weekend to visit and explore the facility. They've got over 5 miles of beautifully-built walking trails organized in 3 loops around the property. They are all marked with interpretive signs about the flora and fauna you'll see around you.

Price is currently $3/adult/day or $5/adult/weekend and $2/child (3-9)/day $3/child/weekend. Kids under 3 are free.

(Every third weekend of the month)
Saturday 8:00 am to 6:00 pm
Sunday 1:00 pm to 6:00 pm

Directions and more information can be found at the following link.

Alabama Nature Center @ Lanark

Photo Gallery >> Lanark
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This is a simple trial of Animoto using a handful of pictures of Colin. Great result. Check out their service.

(This entry is a post-in-progress.) I've been to a number of events with fireworks lately and have been reading up and trying to develop my technique in photographing fireworks.

1. It can be hard to make adjustments under fire once the show has started, form your basic game plan before the show starts.
2. Use a tripod, remote trigger if possible
3. I shoot in Tv (exposure time priority) mode. 1 second exposures are a bit too short, 8 second exposures are a bit too long. Shorten exposures as you approach the finale, a lot of light will be entering your shutter.
4. Watch for items sneaking into your shot as you'll be shooting in the dark. You may want to include some context to your shots with a building or structure, but that stray lamp post will distract from your shot.
5. Watch the sky for any distractions, bright stars, planets, moonlight can dramatically impact your photos at night and can distract from otherwise great shots.
6. ISO 100-200 works well for me. At first it seems you'd want to shoot a high ISO, but remember the fireworks are actually quite bright when they do go off.

Photo Gallery >> Fireworks
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This is an random sampling from my photos I took in August 2007.

Photo Gallery >> August 2007
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Photos: On an Angle

Photo Gallery >> On An Angle
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This is an random sampling of lotus flower pictures I've taken:

Photo Gallery >> Lotus
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This is an random sampling from my photos I took in July 2007.

Photo Gallery >> July 2007
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We just happened to be driving between Decorah, Iowa and Dubuque, Iowa last Friday evening (July 7, 2006) when there was a massive hatching of mayflies along the Mississippi River. I took these pictures from inside the car in East Dubuque, Illinois. The swarms were so dense they showed up on radar in La Crosse, Wisconsin. My heart goes out to any motorcyclists who were riding in the area. Anyone know the southern and northern extent of the mayfly explosion?

Photo Gallery >> 2006 Mayfly hatching on the Mississippi River

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More Links:
Wikipedia article on Mayflies
Blog entry on the Mayfly explosion
Boing Boing article link
Pictures of the little buggers