Natural Encounters

In 1986, I was given the opportunity to switch gears and began one of the most gratifying adventures of my life, the founding of Natural Encounters, a business devoted to environmental education and ecotourism. Before ecotourism became so popular, my business, Natural Encounters, offered wildlife excursions, photography tours, and environmental education classes on everything natural in Florida.

For the past decade, I have developed and taught a wide array of natural history classes. Many of these classes were so popular that students from all over southwest Florida wanted to attend. These classes not only brought the natural world of Florida into the classroom, but also took the students out of the classroom and into the natural habitats of Florida.

I also led nature tours to the wild areas of Florida from the Florida Panhandle to the Florida Keys and the Everglades. On these nature walks and wildlife excursions, we explored the natural areas of Florida in search of plants, birds, insects, and other wonders of nature.

During these natural walkabouts, I became more and more interested in nature photography and began pursuing this new found avocation as a career. I soon was photographing every plant and animal that I encountered on my outings.

At the present time, I am limiting classes and presentations to a minimum in order to devote my energies to wildlife photography.

I am now living my second “childhood” with camera in hand!