Like many nature photographers I dream of shooting exotic things in exotic places. Polar Bears sunning on an ice floe, geysers in Iceland, charging Cape Buffalo, you get the idea.  But also like most nature photographers I live in the real world; I live in suburban America.  Fortunately, I live in suburban Denver and have the Rocky Mountains, foothills and plains somewhat nearby.  Getting out to shoot “nature” is easier here I suppose than many other urban/suburban areas, but it is still a hassle fighting traffic congestion and having the time to escape everyday life for an hour of quality photography.

The other night I saw a blurb on the local news about a mountain lion sighting in the middle of an upscale neighborhood in Golden, over near the foothills.  It started me thinking about the City “Open Space” just down the street from where I live and how much wildlife I see there on a regular basis. This open space is like many in suburban Denver, former ranch land that has been swallowed up by development, saved just in the nick of time by our City fathers.  It is not very big, probably 100 acres in all and it is surrounded by residential neighborhoods, a golf course, a busy four lane street and a Mexican restaurant.  It is primarily open fields with a 2 acre farm pond, some wooded brushy areas and a few remaining cottonwoods, most dead from lack of water since the old ranch irrigation ditches are long gone.   I run my two dogs there almost daily and sometimes take my camera along. (I need to take it more often)

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