Beginnings ...

A new year and a time for new beginnings. There is the expectation of new adventures and new possibilities. It is in that spirit that I am beginning this weblog. My name is Forest Green.

Firstly, I am a naturalist. This has all of the prestige and pecuniary reward of other occupations like village idiot or harmless lunatic or town philosopher. Nevertheless, I am a naturalist. It took me a long time to realize that this was my life's passion. In former endeavours I have also been a dairy farmer, machinist, soldier, airman, librarian, educator, electronics engineer and research scientist. Since childhood though, I have always been my happiest in the forest. I enjoy nothing more than wandering around the woods, and if I have no particular purpose, so much the better. Nature is a wonderment to me. There is alway something new to see, something new to learn.

Secondly, I am a nature photographer. My mother gave me my first camera (a Kodak Brownie Hawkeye box camera) when I was eleven years old. I became fascinated with photography. In well over forty years, I have experimented with many aspects of image making. For a time I had my own darkroom and custom photo-finishing business. I hand-developed hundreds of rolls of 35mm colour slide film. Pioneered a method of synchronizing a slide projector to an audio sound track to enable an early multi-media experience. I have published a book of photographs entitled "Nova Scotia - A Photographic Essay". And in my early twenties I was privileged to be nominated to the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain. Now I am caught up with digital photography and have pretty much relegated film to a few backyard experiments. It is fair to say that photography has held a continuing fascination for me. Again, there is always something new to see (sic), something new to learn.

About ten years ago I thought that I should specialize in some particular aspect of photography. Better to be really good at one aspect than mediocre at all. After much consideration I decided that I would photograph wildflowers. That if I were to do something well it would be as a wildflower photographer. I have a passion for my chosen subject and could go on and on about the flowers of the field and forest. And on this blog I probably will. For now, just consider that I spend my time wandering about the forest taking pictures of the naughty bits of plants. Oh what fun! I have never met a flower that I didn't like. In passing I also get the occasional snapshot of a marmot, a loon or maybe even a coot.

Thirdly, I am an environmentalist, and this is perhaps the real motivation for starting this website. I am passionately concerned about the deteriorating environment around us, and hope that through my nature photography, I am able to show people the beauty of the world around them, and inspire others to help save the planet. It is apparent that corporations and governments are failing to take any serious action that would mitigate against the impact of global warming. And impact there will be. I, for one, am convinced that the oil companies will not give up until they are sucking the very last barrel of oil out of the ground. By then it will be too late. For much of our environment it is already too late now.

I think that our only real hope is at the grassroots level. Individuals must become aware of the part they play in contributing to climate change on a daily basis. We need to understand that there are things that are far more important than corporate profit. Like clean air to breath and fresh water to drink. And wildflowers too. This blog is my small contribution to the environmental movement against global warming. By sharing with you my passions for nature, photography and the environment I hope that you will become passionate about the natural world around you, too.

Let's begin ...