The Key Deer Protection Alliance celebrated its 20th Birthday at the April 9 meeting.  To help us celebrate, we were treated to a wonderful slide show by nature photographers Dick Fortune and Sara Lopez.  A sample of their work can be seen on their website at www.throughthelensgallery.com.   

Their images are unique and refreshing.  Dick’s outlook and thirst for adventure has given him a different perspective when looking through the lens.  He has an uncanny eye for raw beauty that is more art than photography.

Sara’s intuitive sense of what is beautiful when she looks through the lens allows her to capture her subjects' essence as they come alive in her images.  Collectively their work is truly beautiful and exciting. To be face to face with their subjects in remote wilderness areas, and to experience a few precious moments in the lives and struggles these animals lead is an opportunity that most of us can only dream about.

Everyone who has seen their work raves about it.  In part the quality is attributable to a willingness to try to meet the subject on its own terms. For example, Dick does much of his shooting from a prone position, which results in a uniquely realistic perspective.  Some of the quality is a product of persistence: a willingness to seek out the “right shot” regardless of getting tired, wet or mosquito ridden.  And, of course, part is masterful photographic technique.

Their work has been displayed at the Ding Darling Refuge Center in Sanibel Island, and can be seen in many public and private locales including the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce, Loews Hotel Corporate offices, Miami Metro Zoo and Zoological Gardens, even in the Tamiami Airport Control Tower – and in many other places too numerous to mention.