Ofwaterfallsandtrails.com is a nature enthusiast and photography website. Wildlife photography is not just a hobby, but my passion.
Ofwaterfallsandtrails.com is more of a nature themed photography website and photo gallery. I am also a huge aviation and rocket science enthusiast so you will see pages dedicated to that as well.
Its sister site, Ofwaterfallsandtrails.net is more of a nature blog, with short articles covering an array of subjects, mostly on science and nature.
Articles may be educational, personal experience, memoirs, or even prose and creative writing in the future. Check both sites often as photography and articles will be updated routinely.
My Background
My childhood was like a storybook fairy tale. I grew up surrounded by the beauty of the giant redwoods in California. I remember wandering down pathways and trails in the forest, past giant ferns, finding my way to fallen moss-covered logs in the middle of old growth forests. My Dad would teach me how to sit quietly, patiently, and listen to the sounds of nature. Then, after about twenty minutes, I would watch wide-eyed as the forest would come alive around me!
Squirrels would be scurrying, birds foraging, deer meandering slowly, ever on alert! Occasionally, I would see a fox or raccoon.
My dad was an engineer. He was a physics enthusiast and a science fiend. My dad would spend hours teaching me about the science in nature that surrounds us every day.
I grew up outside... playing baseball with my dad, discovering nests in the trees around me, watching baby birds grow up. He taught me to identify birds by flight pattern by the time I was seven years old.
He also taught me to embrace an entire world that most people don't even stop to notice. He taught me all about the creepy crawlies... insects, spiders, snakes. He instilled a love of nature and science in me at an early age. By teaching me a healthy respect for, but never a fear of, all things wild, I grew up discovering the fascinating beauty and immense diversity of so many creatures most people dismiss.
I love all the cute and furry creatures, too, don't get me wrong! There's just so much fascinating information and science behind all these little creatures that people tend to ignore.
So much of our every-day science comes from these little insect-engineers and architects. And then there's the ones that just blow your mind, like the bombardier beetle that uses a chemical reaction as a defense, in effect, spraying an intensely hot acid. Or, better yet, the Cyclosa spider, which is an artist of sorts. It creates a decoy spider out of debris attaching it to the web to look like a much larger spider lives there! There is also the zombie snail. This one takes the cake! It is actually a parasite that takes over the brain of a snail in order to complete its life-cycle. It's like Jedi mind control! How can you not love these crazy-cool creatures?
I remember watching, fascinated, as I learned how some spiders will build, take down and then rebuild their webs every day, while others would build and just keep patching the old ones up. Then there are spiders that don't build a web at all.
I also learned about other odd insects. I remember laying on my belly as a kid, blowing gently on doodle bug shallows, revealing the incredible mandibles of those fierce ant lions, and watching as they would pounce and devour prey.
Being a physics fan, my Dad also taught me many other things, including the science behind everything. We would shoot off bottle rockets in the backyard and he would explain to me about thrust. We would make and adjust the elevators and rudders on paper airplanes as he taught me about aerodynamics.
My favorite was when we would go to the nearby stream bed, and he would teach me how to identify animal tracks and read the stories they left behind. I especially loved tracking them down and then observing quietly from a distance. It was like watching your own Nature documentary, only a million times better because it was real!
I especially loved taking a walk in the forest after a first snow... The muffled acoustics it brings was so calming and you could see the tracks of so many things that the forest usually hides. My Dad always said that you had to look closer and see with your heart for the forest to divulge her secrets.
Sharing this passion for the world we live in is my way of giving back, honoring the legacy of my father and hopefully inspiring others to take the time to look up... to find the beauty in the simple things.
A wise person once told me that the eyes are the window to the soul. I choose to look for the good in everything, to fill my eyes with as much beauty as they can behold each and every day.
I truly believe there is so much beauty that fills this world around us and surrounds us each and every day. All you have to do is take the time to look.
Never stop looking. Always wander.
Ofwaterfallsandtrails.com is more of a nature themed photography website and photo gallery. I am also a huge aviation and rocket science enthusiast so you will see pages dedicated to that as well.
Its sister site, Ofwaterfallsandtrails.net is more of a nature blog, with short articles covering an array of subjects, mostly on science and nature.
Articles may be educational, personal experience, memoirs, or even prose and creative writing in the future. Check both sites often as photography and articles will be updated routinely.
My Background
My childhood was like a storybook fairy tale. I grew up surrounded by the beauty of the giant redwoods in California. I remember wandering down pathways and trails in the forest, past giant ferns, finding my way to fallen moss-covered logs in the middle of old growth forests. My Dad would teach me how to sit quietly, patiently, and listen to the sounds of nature. Then, after about twenty minutes, I would watch wide-eyed as the forest would come alive around me!
Squirrels would be scurrying, birds foraging, deer meandering slowly, ever on alert! Occasionally, I would see a fox or raccoon.
My dad was an engineer. He was a physics enthusiast and a science fiend. My dad would spend hours teaching me about the science in nature that surrounds us every day.
I grew up outside... playing baseball with my dad, discovering nests in the trees around me, watching baby birds grow up. He taught me to identify birds by flight pattern by the time I was seven years old.
He also taught me to embrace an entire world that most people don't even stop to notice. He taught me all about the creepy crawlies... insects, spiders, snakes. He instilled a love of nature and science in me at an early age. By teaching me a healthy respect for, but never a fear of, all things wild, I grew up discovering the fascinating beauty and immense diversity of so many creatures most people dismiss.
I love all the cute and furry creatures, too, don't get me wrong! There's just so much fascinating information and science behind all these little creatures that people tend to ignore.
So much of our every-day science comes from these little insect-engineers and architects. And then there's the ones that just blow your mind, like the bombardier beetle that uses a chemical reaction as a defense, in effect, spraying an intensely hot acid. Or, better yet, the Cyclosa spider, which is an artist of sorts. It creates a decoy spider out of debris attaching it to the web to look like a much larger spider lives there! There is also the zombie snail. This one takes the cake! It is actually a parasite that takes over the brain of a snail in order to complete its life-cycle. It's like Jedi mind control! How can you not love these crazy-cool creatures?
I remember watching, fascinated, as I learned how some spiders will build, take down and then rebuild their webs every day, while others would build and just keep patching the old ones up. Then there are spiders that don't build a web at all.
I also learned about other odd insects. I remember laying on my belly as a kid, blowing gently on doodle bug shallows, revealing the incredible mandibles of those fierce ant lions, and watching as they would pounce and devour prey.
Being a physics fan, my Dad also taught me many other things, including the science behind everything. We would shoot off bottle rockets in the backyard and he would explain to me about thrust. We would make and adjust the elevators and rudders on paper airplanes as he taught me about aerodynamics.
My favorite was when we would go to the nearby stream bed, and he would teach me how to identify animal tracks and read the stories they left behind. I especially loved tracking them down and then observing quietly from a distance. It was like watching your own Nature documentary, only a million times better because it was real!
I especially loved taking a walk in the forest after a first snow... The muffled acoustics it brings was so calming and you could see the tracks of so many things that the forest usually hides. My Dad always said that you had to look closer and see with your heart for the forest to divulge her secrets.
Sharing this passion for the world we live in is my way of giving back, honoring the legacy of my father and hopefully inspiring others to take the time to look up... to find the beauty in the simple things.
A wise person once told me that the eyes are the window to the soul. I choose to look for the good in everything, to fill my eyes with as much beauty as they can behold each and every day.
I truly believe there is so much beauty that fills this world around us and surrounds us each and every day. All you have to do is take the time to look.
Never stop looking. Always wander.