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TEACH CHILDREN THE WONDER AND BEAUTY OF TINY LIFE

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Tiny life exists all around us and flourishes in a world all its own. Rarely is it seen or experienced by humans except when it evokes fear, annoyance or a big yuck factor. I discovered this under world – this jungle metropolis below my feet-- quite by accident. It all began with one wild honey bee who unknowingly led me to her thriving hive in an old hollowed out oak tree the winter of 2011. 

I visited that hive nearly every day for months and got to know the bees on a first name basis. We developed a kinship, truly a mutual trust, and I could take my camera to within inches of the hive entrance and photograph as long as my heart desired without ever getting stung. That’s when I first fell in love with bees. The sound of their buzzing was melodic and soothing. A year later I wrote a book about bees and filled the pages with color photos of my bee adventures.

From there, I noticed ladybugs, butterflies, and caterpillars, and then wasps, and creatures I’d never taken much notice of before, like dragonflies and damselflies and spiders. 

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This tiny life world opened up my own. I began witnessing marvelous things. I've seen life and death struggles, fear and stress, and territorial fights. I’ve photographed a paper wasp head butting a honey bee off a flower, while using a back leg to kick another one off. I’ve seen a honey bee defend herself and dive bomb the wasp. That’s rare though. Honey bees are not aggressive when they’re out gathering nectar. Bumble bees are even tamer. I would handle all of them – the bees, the wasps, the bumble bees, dragonflies, butterflies and grasshoppers - with bare hands.

Insects, like most life forms, have a strong desire to survive. They want the basic necessities just like we do: food, water and shelter. Some are quite communal, while others prefer a solitary life. I've seen creatures be curious, playful, trusting, cautious, and literally having fun. I would even say they have distinct personalities.

My goal through the use of a camera lens is to bring their world into focus, to expand our own. I want to share my belief that all life matters. My photography passion extends to all animals, birds and reptiles. I posit that if the human race embraced that single concept -- all life matters -- we'd be closer to peace on this beautiful and glorious, but quite messed up planet. 

GO TO PHOTOGRAPHS OF LOVELY TINY LIFE

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