I’m one of the most fortunate people I know. I live in a beautiful area of southern Alabama, and within a ten mile radius of my house, I have wonderful country to photograph. And this beautiful view is what I can see every afternoon, just by standing in the middle of my front yard.
I got this shot just last week; I was walking by a window while getting some work done, and happened to look out- and there it was.
The only thing that could make things better, would be to have a beautiful lake in my front yard. While that’s not going to be possible, one of my dreams/goals for this year is to put in a small goldfish pond in front of my house, and turning it into an outdoor living room- I’ve got all kinds of beautiful plants that can be moved around it, including confederate roses, grapevine, hydrangeas, wisteria and all kinds of day lilies.
It will take some planning to get all this done, because I want to make sure we don’t mess with any water lines, but I know it can be done.
If you’ve got dreams, write them down- and turn them into plans, by writing down all the details that will have to be done to make it a reality. The more real a dream is to you, the more likely it will become a plan.

I love taking pictures in and around my community – it’s not a very big place, but I sure am proud of it. Lots of lovely ‘hidden’ places, fields, lakes, swamps and all sorts of beautiful images.
I recently entered a picture of our newest water tower, with a beautiful sunset in the background, in a statewide contest geared towards communities. I received a notice yesterday that my photograph won second place. I’m very happy about it, because it was one of those shots that just presented itself. I wasn’t even thinking about photography- I had headed out the door to pick my daughter up from band practice, and when I saw the sky across the road, I went back in and got my camera.
My picture will be on the cover of the February issue of the organization’s magazine.