A squirrel guards his prized possession at Bernheim Forest.

I always try to photograph the "Let There Be Light" statue whenever I visit Bernheim. Today there was definitely light...

The inscription that goes with the statue.

Experimenting with processing this deer photo as if it were a glamour portrait. I think she's ready for Hollywood!

You know, I swore, swore, swore that I would stick to still photography and not venture into videography. My reasons were many: too time consuming, can't use popular music due to licensing issues, don't want a second camera, editing software is too expensive and you need a master's degree in knob-twiddling to use it, files are too big, the process is slow and grueling, etc., etc., etc... Then along comes a $20 app for the iPad (and iPhone) that squashes every reason I had to stay away from videography except for the availability of popular music. Well, it turns out that nature videos don't really need popular music so, now I've gone and done it.. Dipped my toe in video.

Still very amateurish, but kinda has a Cinéma Vérité feel to it. I also have much to learn about the iPad app but, wow! talk about bang for the buck. LumaFusion, check it out on the iOS app store.

If you are not fortunate to live close to an area with forest creatures, I made this video for you...

One I have not run into before. A Gulf Fritillary with the sun shining through its wings. This is about as far north as they go.

Storm clouds roll in at Bernheim Forest.

The Passion Flower is one of the most exotic looking plants you will find in the woods, and along roadsides, in the south. “La Flor de las cinco Llagas" or the ‘The Flower With The Five Wounds,’ as it was known by seventeenth century Spanish missionaries in South America, was used by them to teach the story of the crucifixion (or Passion) of Christ to the South American indigenous peoples.

This one, like so many others, was along the path I took through Tom Sawyer Park yesterday and was being visited by an unknown bug while I was being mesmerized by it…

Classic butterfly at Bernheim Forest.

Spend enough time walking around in the woods and you eventually develop a sort of sixth sense about something that doesn't belong. This is especially true for me with colors.

Well, as I was walking along yesterday, I was struck by two brown leaves sticking up in the middle of what was very long dark green grass mixed with various green weeds. It just didn't make sense that a dried up old pair of brown leaves should be sticking up there. Well, it actually turned out to be two ears! One belonged to the little deer you see below, and the other to its sibling. They were just napping by themselves in this mass of greenery, their bodies completely invisible.

As soon as I realized what these leaves really were, the deer saw me and bolted. They stopped and turned to look at me about 50 yards away. I could only photograph one because the other was in shade that was too dark to pull anything out of. The broken tombstone you see is about 2 feet tall, so you can see how small this deer is. They must know that I will not walk inside the fence because there are thousands of people buried there. Some reports are there are as many as 5000 bodies of the dearly departed in this relatively tiny cemetery, many of them in mass graves. The deer don't seem to mind because I have frequently seen and photographed many of them there throughout the years.

I'm sure you can't see me hiding behind this tree!

On Wednesday, July 5, I wandered into Murphy's Camera on Bardstown road with the idea of looking at a new Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II . They had a demo version available, so I went ahead and bought it. There was an Olympus special offer going on at the time and they also knocked some money off because the camera was a demo unit. At the same time I bought the 12-40mm f/2.8 lens which was also a demo unit and was also on sale.

Later, after I had arrived home, I discovered that the special Olympus USB cable, used to connect the camera to a computer for various tasks, including firmware updates, was missing from my package. I called Murphy's to see if it might still be in the store. It was not, but it was then that I found out the rebates from Olympus were even better than the discounts I had already received and Murphy's was trying to contact me to tell me they wanted to give me another $200 back! I headed back to the store and got the additional rebate applied to my credit card and, since they didn't find the USB cable, they removed one from another camera's package and ordered a replacement for that camera.

I received outstanding customer service! In this time of Amazon.com dominance, I still return to Murphy's whenever I plan on purchasing a new camera. I have been buying digital cameras from them since the early 1990's when I bought my first digital camera, a Kodak DC50. I still have that camera to this day but it just sits around as a conversation piece.

I was so impressed with the new Olympus that I returned to Murphy's the following day to pick up the 40-150mm f/2.8 lens. That too was a demo lens and was also on sale. It turned out the sale price was better when buying an Olympus camera at the same time. Because I had bought my Olympus the day before, they figured out a way to add this new lens to my existing purchase and to save me even more money. In my opinion, they went above and beyond to make me a satisfied customer. If you live in the Louisville area, you should pay them a visit and buy there, rather than shipping your money to Amazon.com.

Here are some of the first photos from my new Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II.

A deer in the shade at Tom Sawyer Park

A Tiger Lily (I think) at Bernheim Forest

A Purple Parasol at Bernheim Forest

I don't know what kind of bug this is, but it looks pretty prehistoric. He was on a cement wall at Bernheim Forest

A Monarch butterfly getting refreshed by a flower at Bernheim Forest

A dragon fly resting on a reed at Bernheim Forest

A squirrel at Bernheim Forest, trying to look inconspicuous, in the shade of a large tree 

Some birds I was observing from quite a distance.

Yeah, so there they were...

It's always a sign of good luck when the birds show up...

A young deer at Tom Sawyer Park.

A young buck spent some time posing for me at Tom Sawyer State Park in Louisville, KY.

A hummingbird moth drinks up at Tom Sawyer Park.

This day serves as our reminder that not everyone comes home…

I often wonder how those of “The Greatest Generation,” especially those who left this world prematurely because they sacrificed their lives so we could have the lives and lifestyles we have today, might view what we have done with their gift. I wonder what kinds of opinions they would hold about who we have become as a nation.

The most horrible thing I can imagine is that they might think their sacrifice was not worth it and that we have squandered the gift that they won for us. 

All it took was about 10 minutes of watching the cable news channels for me to pick out five  things that I think we need to change if we are to preserve the gift we received from them.

My five tenets to build a stronger nation:

1. Less “me,” more “we”.
2. Less interest in how rich our neighbors are and more gratitude for how rich our lives are.
3. Less focus on the lives of celebrities and more on the celebration of life.
4. Less focus on our individual differences and more on the different ways we are united.
5. Less concern with what we can get for free and more concern with ensuring we remain free.

In order that we may never forget the price that was paid on our behalf by those who gave all they had, and all they would ever have, so we could remain free. Today I dedicate this photo to those who remain, forever young…

When this guy sang, his entire body shook. I could hear him on the other side of the park!