GRAY TREE FROG LOUDOUN COUNTY, VIRGINIA, USA “This is ‘Gary’ the gray tree frog, one of the characters in the second book in my ‘Buddy the Beaver’ series. Our friend and neighbor Caroline Hickman found Gary in her yard. Dad and I set up our gear to photograph and we heard him calling every night during the summer!” Nikon D90 with 200mm lens; 1/60 sec at ƒ/16; ISO 200; macro flash; tripod.
C A R S O N
I love nature. About two years ago, while we were exploring and photographing in Yellowstone
National Park, my mom recommended that Dad and I do a book together. So, we started photographing a family of beavers that lived along a river in southern West Virginia. Before I even took a picture, my dad and my teachers at school helped me learn about beavers and their habitats. It took us two years to get enough images for the book. We also traveled through Virginia, Maryland, and West Virginia to photograph the
other characters for the book. Some of the animals were easy to photograph, but others like “Larry the Land Snail,” took a long time to photograph. To write the story, my dad and I would go to a local restaurant to have a snack and to
write. I came up with the name, “Buddy the Beaver.” Buddy is a young beaver that one day goes out to explore his pond and he meets many new friends and sees many of his old friends. The best part of writing the story with dad was coming up with the names of the other characters. That was fun.
C L A R K
