Nature is truly amazing and I'd like to enter this Amazing Nature Contest with a few of my favorite nature shots, though it was very difficult making the decision on what to choose. In addition to providing the photos, we are tasked in this contest with itinerating what nature means to us and how the photographs relate.
This first photo was taken from my own front porch, leaning down over the porch railing and snapping this beautiful butterfly on my butterfly bush. It amazes me how perfectly aligned the features of nature can be - that this bush produces this particular flower that is specifically attractive to this creature. And then look at how nature arranges the colorings on the butterfly to make him fit into his environment. I appreciate how the different ecosystems relate to each other.
This photo pictures nature in one of her more virulent forms - a tornado! Living in the midwest, this is the side of nature that we see when nature is on the warpath. No matter what area you live in, there is some form of nature's fury to contend with. From hurricanes, to earthquakes, to mudslides, to volcanoes, to tidal waves, to out-of-control forest fires, she will make her presence known in ways that overshadow man's ability to interfere.
And my final photo shows the absolutely astounding beauty that Mother Nature can provide for us. This was taken at the Garden of the Gods in southern Illinois and it's one of my all-time favorite places to commune with nature. I have sat on the head of the Camel Rock and found it an excellent spot to put things in perspective.
