On an average summer weekend, when many of us are at the beach or attending family picnics, Julia Carlson is likely to be found, decked out in camouflage, crouching in the brush along the Airline Trail in Hebron, or waiting quietly amongst the Marshy reeds of the Connecticut Shore. No, Julia is not in training for the Army National Guard, she is an amateur wildlife photographer, and photographing birds has become a specialty of hers.

To look at Julia's photographs, one would guess that she has some formal training in the discipline, or spent some time in art school, but that's not the case. It wasn't until about six years ago that she first picked up a camera and became interested. About to leave for a vacation she noticed some old Olympus 35mm cameras that belonged to her husband, Bob, a self-taught amateur portrait photographer. She decided to take one with her--and that was the beginning. Bob taught her a lot of the basics, but he insists that she has a talent that can't be taught.

"I used to drive him crazy, because I'd go and shoot a roll or two of film, then immediately run out to the nearest photo shop to have it developed." Luckily, it wasn't long before Julia was ready to trade in the old Olympus for a Nikon digital. Now she might take 100 or more pictures in a day, often of the same thing, hoping to capture that perfect shot.

Julia started off shooting a lot of flowers, but that soon got boring. "I love color, and flowers have a lot of color, but there's no real challenge there," she explains. "Birds are different--you can't tell a bird to sit and stay, and when you do get a good picture it's very rewarding."

It's not just a good eye that makes Julia's work extraordinary--it also takes a lot of patience. It's not uncommon for her to sit still for an hour or two waiting for a shot, and she acknowledges that the "pros" will often wait 8 hours or more for a good photo.

This spring, in Gay City State Park, Bob and Julia discovered a pair of Redstarts building their nest. They kept an eye on them, and before long "Mrs. Redstart" was sitting on some eggs. A little research in the Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behavior told Bob and Julia just how long before the eggs would hatch, what the feeding habits would be, and when the hatchlings would "fledge," or leave the nest to strike out on their own. This information made it a little easier for Julia to document the development of the Redstarts' new family. "We kept tabs on them, and it was a neat experience to watch the babies hatch, and be cared for by their parents. As they got a little older they were being fed about every fifteen minutes." But baby birds soon become adult birds, and in the beginning of June, right on schedule, Julia was there to capture the moment when the first Redstart left home.

Julia Carlson lives in Hebron with her husband Bob and their cat Ziggy. Her photography has received numerous awards at the Hebron County Fair, including two for "Best in Show."