Author: Beth Leidenheimer

Retired in 2000, I returned to my first loves, nature and photography. Born in New York, lived in Pennsylvania, Arizona, California, and Indiana, I now reside in Florida. I still marvel at and aim to capture in photos the magic of wildlife in their native habitats, often trekking by boat and foot to areas not often traveled. I come by my love of nature and photography quite naturally, following in the footsteps of my parents, Ernie and Florence.

Stay Tuned Over the Coming Weeks

… Do come back and visit.  I’m planning my next post, and have a ton of posts to make and photos to share.  Join me as I travel down memory lane recounting amazing journeys.  Tour Ireland with me as I visit many famous locations, and then cruise from Ballinamore to Enniskillen as we captain a barge, navigate the canals and operate the locks.  Travel to remote locations in Costa Rica, New Zealand, and even to the Pyramids of Tikal in the jungles of Guatemala.

The North American adventures record visits to Nova Scotia, Western Canada, and a trip on the Rocky Mountaineer Rail.  In the U.S. I’ll attempt to offer a glimpse of the Sandhill Cranes of the Platte Rive, the wilds of Yellowstone, the rugged Glacier NP,  the expansive Badlands, a rare view of wild horses in South Dakota, and of course, the varied and beautiful wildlife of Florida.

Come along with me, and enjoy the wonderful joy found out and about in nature.

I welcome your thoughts and comments, on not only my posts, but also on your own experiences with nature.

Have You Ever Been to Churchill?

Have You Ever Been to Churchill?

If you go in the fall, be sure to plan layers, heavy boots and warm parkas!  At temperatures between zero and 20 degrees, not even considering wind chill, it was a bit brisk in mid-November.  I took the last polar bear tour of the season.  The impetus for this trip was to see and photograph polar bears in their natural habitat while I’m still young enough and healthy enough to handle the bitter cold. More importantly, I wanted to see the polar bears before the trend of the global warming climate changes threatens their existence any further.

Polar bears feed almost exclusively on seals and generally feed only in the winter.  A late freeze of Hudson Bay, keeps the bears on land, and although they have some amazing mechanisms that slows down their metabolism when there is no food source available, they must pack on the weight in winter in order to survive the long periods without food after the ice flows disappear.

Mid-to late November, Churchill is starting to close-up shop for the winter.  Temporary help returns to warmer climates, and the locals settle in for the winter.  They are a hearty group, and certainly have my respect.

Oh yeah, if you have a chance to go out on a dog sled, don’t miss it, even if it is bitter cold!  That was a real treat.  If I ever figure out how to edit my go-pro video and this web site will accept videos I’ll add a short clip of the dog sled ride.

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Willow ptarmigan. White in winter. Below is a you-tube link I got a real kick out of watching.  The credits for the video are on the video trailer.

If you are considering taking a tour in Churchill, Canada, I recommend Natural Habitat.  They certainly exceeded my expectations.

http://www.nathab.com/photo-tours/polar-bear/polar-bear-photo-tour/

Hello world! Beth here.

Hello world! Beth here.

It is time for me to step out from my usual places of comfort, one being behind my camera, and the other in my own inner world.  Yes, it is much easier to listen than to speak, to withdraw in my own space and most certainly to stay away from the direct line of sight of the camera lens.  Given the choice, I tend to remain quiet and as a result am sometimes only partially present in the moment.  So, I’m starting this blog after repeated encouragement and nudging of a photographer friend of mine.  Believe me, I’d rather be “behind” the camera and “behind” the scenes, than here; but I’m here, so let’s see what I can do with it.

Nature photography is my original love.  The quest to capture an image of a bird in just the right pose, in the best light, and in it’s natural habitat sent me on a long, often elusive journey spanning more than a decade.  For the most part, I stumbled my way through, starting with point and shoot cameras.  As my frustration built with the limitations of each successive camera, I eventually progressed into the digital SLR world where the basic concepts of proper exposure eluded me for some time.  Occasionally I would get lucky and take a reasonably exposed image but I had no idea how I arrived there.

Through the loving encouragement of my husband, and the also generous imparting of information by local photography groups, I began to grasp some basic concepts and slowly improve my work.  I don’t sell my work.  I share it with family and friends. That doesn’t mean I won’t sell in the future; but for some reason, I find it satisfying to know someone values my work enough to put it on their wall.  I enjoy knowing they enjoy the images.

My first images shared were truly not of a quality I would readily share today, but I didn’t know any better at the time.  I really am not a wonderfully proficient photographer, but I have been lucky enough to see some amazing sights and capture some wonderful images.  So, if you will permit me, I will share some of those images with you from time to time.

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