CONSERVATION PHOTOGRAPHY TRIP
Solon Dixon Forestry Education Center
April 16-19, 2010
Join Robert
Smith and Gary Carter on a unique conservation photography trip to Solon Dixon Forestry Education Center in south Alabama. If you have been looking for a chance
for your pictures to have an impact and want your travel to have a positive
impact on the local community, this is the trip for you.
The
5,300-acre Solon Dixon Forestry Education Center serves as an outdoor
laboratory for Auburn University students majoring in forestry and wildlife.
Students and faculty from other colleges and universities also visit the site,
as well as a host of professional natural resource managers from state and
federal agencies, non-profit organizations, and private holdings. It is
adjacent to the 83,000-acre Conecuh National Forest, which is adjacent to the
203,000-acre Blackwater State Forest.
A picture is
worth a thousand words, and the instructors at the Solon Dixon Center are in need of imagery to use in their talks, presentations, and other educational efforts.
Last year, we made our first trip down there to help them further develop their
image library showing key environmental components, management tools, and
management practices.
THROUGH
THE LENS
Unlike most
photo trips where the objective is a small group (of often charismatic) of
wildlife, the objective of this trip is to document a complex ecosystem and its
management. This trip might be described as a photojournalistic attempt to
capture our most diverse southeastern ecosystem. We would like to get imagery
of the habitats and their keystone species, as well as imagery of some of the
management techniques and tools. Imagery that tells a story or part of the
story is important, as is imagery that can be used for backgrounds for
presentations.
The
topography in this part of Alabama is rolling hills with a layer of clay over
limestone parent material. The karst parent material has lead to the
development of sinkholes, one cave, seeps, and a major spring which often
contain unique flora. The Conecuh River, a comparatively large blackwater
river with sand bars, borders the property. The draws and bottoms are
dominated by a diverse group of hardwoods. The uplands were historically a
fire-maintained pine grassland, dominated by longleaf pine. Today, there is
loblolly, slash, and longleaf pine, with large acreages of it in this area
being prescribed burned. This leads to a VERY diverse understory and contains
some animals that are difficult to find even here, but extremely difficult to
find in other areas. While the director of the Solan Dixon Center could not guarantee a good photographic opportunity for any species, he said the species
that he could almost guarantee that we would see on the adjacent Conecuh National Forest would be the red-cockaded woodpecker. We will be visiting the site
during the nesting season, and MAYBE we’ll be lucky enough to know where a nest
is that the young have already hatched and are being fed.
The Solon Dixon Center maintains a number of nest boxes for other cavity-nesting birds, and
there could be nesting chickadees, titmice, and bluebirds while we are there. Bird
feeders are also located at the Center, and if they are being used heavily, we
will photograph there as well.
We should hit
at a good time for spring wildflowers with these species as possibilities:
native azaleas, Atamasco lilies, flowering dogwood, red buckeye, violets, squaw
root, and mountain laurel. We’re going down about two weeks later than last
year in hopes of catching the bog flowers, including pitcher plants and sun
dews, a little further developed.
The wildlife
native to south Alabama is present on the properties including white-tailed
deer, wild turkey, feral hogs, coyotes, fox squirrels, gopher tortoises, and a
diversity of other wildlife. None of the wildlife is habituated to people, and
it is likely that wildlife (other than perhaps a few bird and reptile and
amphibian species) will be difficult to photograph. Last year, we had a great
trip for amphibians, with 11 frog & toad species being seen with the
opportunity to try to photograph 7 of them calling in seasonal ponds!
Imagery of
some resource management tools and techniques should be fairly easy to obtain.
In the case of a rainy day we will likely focus on still life shots of
equipment and natural history items found around the shop and offices.
We will spend
time in the frequently burned piney woods, at a large limestone sink, around a
sandy-bottomed clearwater spring run, at a red-cockaded woodpecker colony,
around several depressional wetlands, in a pitcher plant bog, at a limestone
cave, and shooting captive reptiles and amphibians.
EXPECTATIONS
Photographers
will retain all rights to use their images as they see fit, but participants
are expected to provide at least 10 images to the Solon Dixon Forestry Education Center for their use in presentations, talks, and other educational
efforts. Ideally, those images would be burned to a CD or other digital
device before leaving the property.
While Robert,
Gary, and perhaps some staff from the Center will be available to help direct
participants to locations, identify plants and animals, and troubleshoot
photographic problems, participants should be prepared to carpool in their
vehicles as we shoot as one large group or in two smaller groups.
BENEFITS
This is a
great chance to obtain imagery of an area and habitat that is seldom
photographed. If anyone photographs stock imagery for sporting or land
management buyers, there should be some good opportunities on this trip.
The imagery
that we provide to the Solon Dixon Center will be viewed by potentially
thousands of current and future natural resource managers – including the
majority of those that matriculate through a program at Auburn University. In addition to the existing federal, state, non-governmental, and private
professionals who visit the center, students from Iowa State, the University of Wisconsin – Madison, Arkansas Tech, and Yale University get their exposure to
southern fire-maintained forests at this site.
We will also
be having a positive local economic impact in an extremely rural part of
southern Alabama. The housekeeping and kitchen staff are part time – if no
group is at the Center, then they do not work.
WHEN
April 16-19,
2010
We will
arrive by 3:00 on Friday, April 16th with afternoon shooting near
the compound. An overview of the trip will be presented after dinner that
evening along with an introduction to the Solon Dixon Center and its unique
educational program. The Director of the Solon Dixon Center will discuss the
needs for imagery and the locations of potential subjects.
On Saturday,
Sunday, and Monday morning, individuals will divide into small groups to go
shoot the topics that most interest them. Last year, we mostly shot as one
large group with some individuals staying in to take naps at times.
TRANSPORTATION
Participants
should provide their own transportation to the Solon Dixon Center and while on the site. Four wheel drive is not necessary, but may be helpful in some
situations. Carpooling on the site is encouraged.
The Solon Dixon Center is approximately 20 miles south of Andalusia, Alabama near the community of Dixie, Alabama. It is a scarce few miles north of the Florida line.
LODGING
There are
five cottages on the property that are less than two years old. Each cottage
has 4 hotel-style, double occupancy rooms.
FOOD
A cafeteria
on site will provide 3 hot meals each day. Participants with special food
requests or allergies should make those known as early as possible.
TRIP RIGOR
This trip can
be as easy or as difficult as the individual participants desire. Last year,
most of the participants opted for at least one LONG night of trying to take
pictures of frogs in flooded ponds as we made a 35 mile long loop.
WHAT TO
BRING
Boots,
long-sleeved shirt, long pants, rain gear, mosquito repellent/tick spray,
sunscreen, and camera gear – from wide angle to long telephoto. A ground mat
to lay on may be helpful as might chest waders or rubber boots.
PRICE
The price for
this trip is $425.00 per person based on two people to a room; if you require a
room to yourself, there will be a single supplement of an additional $150.
This price includes lodging, meals, and support from Robert & Gary.
A deposit of $150
is required to hold your place. Final payment will be due by March 16, 2010.
Any cancellations must be received 30 days prior to the trip (March 16, 2010);
there will be a $50 cancellation fee.
Payment
should be made to:
Robert Smith
5011 Asa Lane
Greensboro, NC 27406
If you have
any questions, please contact Robert at 336-339-3497 or at
robert@photobiologist.com. Robert and Gary hope your plans will permit you to
join us at the Solon Dixon Forestry Education Center for this special photo
opportunity!
