Getting Close to Nature With Your Digital Camera - The River Walk

Taking photographs that you can enjoy and be proud of is something almost anyone can do.

Digital photography changed everything. Once it was only the rich and professional photographers who could take as many photos as they wanted to.

Now once you have your camera and memory card you can take as many photographs as you like.

It is also not limited to those who have the high-end SLR cameras with lots of fancy lenses. Of course having the right cameras and lenses helps but that's all it does.

One of my own favourite hubbers started out taking photographs on his digital phone. He got some stunning photographs using just his mobile phone.

Now Kevin has a digital camera and has had over one million hits on his photographs. He has earned over $800 on-line from his photographs and if you want to you can do this too.

I would like through this hub to encourage everyone to get out there and take photographs. Even the most basic of digital point and shoot camera or a phone with a camera try taking it with you on a walk.

In an attempt to encourage people who don't usually take a camera with them I will show you what happens when you do.

This is a walk through one of my local parks so that you can see what you can find when you take your camera with you.

I hope that you enjoy the walk with me and that you get some ideas of what you might encounter in your own locality.

So, I hope that you will come with me on this walk and see some of the wonders of nature as seen through the lens of my camera.

We have a wonderful new park in Villajoyosa it is a river walk alongside the Rio Amadoria.

As you can see from the above photograph, the Rio Amadoria is more like a stream than a river.

The Rio Amadoria flows into the Mediterranean which is the patch of blue on the horizon of the above photo.

The Pantano de Amadorio, is a local reservoir about 10 kilometres away. It is water from the Pantano that feeds the Rio Amadoria.

The small stream flows down from the higher ground. The Rio eventually arrives to meander through the town until it reaches the Mediterranean.

For about a kilometre the Amadoria has paths and park areas alongside. There are places for people to sit and enjoy the peaceful areas around the river bank.

The town has planted flowers and trees in the parkland and it is a pleasant place to walk or just sit.

Wild and cultured flowers flourish side by side along the river banks. These not only look pretty they provide the habitat for a variety of wildlife.

The roses in the park did not look particularly special on this day. But by selecting the odd rose here and there I managed to get some nice shots that I was pleased with.

The riverside is uncultivated, it has wild-flowers, reeds, and rushes growing along its edge. These provide the habitat for a variety of wildlife.

Recently a family of ducks have taken up residence on this stretch of the Rio Amadoria.

The ducks are a welcome addition to the park and are particularly popular with young children.

The ducks duck seem to find all sorts of interesting things in the water and among the reeds.

The water in the Rio Amadoria is beautifully clear and provides a home to all kinds of aquatic life. This little river is teeming with life the most numerous being these small fish that dart about in small shoals.

The new park is an ideal place to take a walk with your digital camera. Walking along the paths, there are many interesting things to focus your camera on.

Alongside the path, there are cultured flowers most of which I do not know the names of but that does not stop me from enjoying them or from photographing them.

There are also many wildflowers that grow in the park too but unfortunately there are not that many flowering in the summer heat.

Insects thrive in the riverside environment, though it is not always co-operative when it comes to having it photograph taken. When taking photographs of insects we need a little patience and a lot of luck. When you do find something of interest to focus on, take as many photographs as you can. You will not find out until you upload your photos onto your computer exactly what you have captured.

The photographs that turn out to be the best are not always the ones you expect. Even when the photos do not look particularly good on the LCD on the camera, carry on taking them anyway it is amazing what a little cropping and editing can bring out.

My photographs of some of the insects that flourish at the riverside

Well this is where my walk finishes, I hope that you have enjoyed sharing my walk through the eye of my camera lens and that it encourages you to take your camera with you the next time you take a walk.