The Alabama Photography Blog

Last night I got all my gear ready to go out early today to shoot more Alabama Photography and then woke up to gray skies that threatened rain. I will discuss lighting and all of that in another post but since I was going to the bog on a scooter today I really didn’t want to ride in the rain. Protecting my camera was a major concern also. I checked the radar online and took my time getting ready and then headed out. It was perfect weather for the ride and photographing pretty much anything. It was cool and gray and just my idea of a good time. This made visit number 4 in two weeks and I was still hoping to see the hordes of butterflies. Well, they weren’t there today either. I happened to read one of the educational signs posted along the boardwalk and it said butterflies are out and about on bright, sunny days. Oh, well… what else could I see?

I talked to some other visitors briefly and they went on their way while I scoped out all the rather “ordinary” but beautiful flowers and insects. There is no end of subjects for an Alabama photographer. I am so excited that beauty is everywhere; just open your eyes and really look at things. As often as I go to the bog it’s always different. Today there weren’t as many spiders around or maybe without the sunshine they didn’t show up as much. I eventually made my way down to the river and as I was walking back just happened to notice something brown on a tree trunk right beside the elevated boardwalk. I looked closer and it was a small crab! How weird! And it got weirder; the crab was eating tree bark!! I stood and watched him, all the while taking pictures of course, and was happy that between my zoom lens and the proximity of the tree I got some good close shots. He, like most of the wildlife there, are rather camera shy so he moved around the tree from me and I was able to lean over the railing and get a few shots as he came around the other side of the trunk. Through the zoom lens I could watch him use his two claws and feed himself, alternating claws. As I said, he was small; his body was probably an inch and a half wide at most and the whole crab was maybe 3 inches wide. He was taking very small bites! This crab was obviously a fresh water variety and differently colored from any others I’ve ever seen. Never before had I given any thought to the diet of crabs but apparently some eat tree bark! Very odd.

Those visitors I spoke with did point out a butterfly on their way back and I was able to get several good shots of it. I also found some more banana spiders and got a series of photos of a mother and baby but my best prize today was that tiny, bark eating crab. Blog worthy, for sure!

Would you like to see more Alabama photographs? Visit Everson Photography.

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