Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge -- Lee Hatfield has been named March, 2013, Photographer of the Month, by the Friends of Hagerman NWR.
A Celina, Texas resident, Hatfield says, “I began my career in photography at age 11 when I received a Kodak Brownie camera for Christmas: back in the days of point and shoot, cube flash bulbs and black and white film with 12 shots a roll.”
Now she has progressed to a Nikon D800e and the Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 lens with the 2X Extender. She also uses a Nikon 50mm f1.4 portrait lens as well as a Nikon 105mm macro lens and a Tokina 11-16mm wide angle for landscapes, architecture and even some close up work.
Hatfield began volunteering at the Hagerman NWR Nature Nook about 18 months ago and tries to arrive a couple of hours early with her camera in hand to drive the refuge and see what birds and animals are out and about. She says that she has never been disappointed in the variety of wildlife seen here at the refuge, where she has photographed her first Northern Harrier and Red Tail Hawks here as well as White Pelicans, Snow and Ross Geese, Pintail Ducks and Yellowlegs. Twelve of her photos taken at Hagerman are featured at friendofhagerman.com/Gallery this month.
Hatfield claims, “Photography is my passion! Every day when I take my camera out it’s like opening a beautifully wrapped present. I just never know what I will find but it’s always something wonderful. The light is never the same two days in a row at any given location and neither is nature or her creatures. One day I watched a Snow Goose play crossing guard for a family of Pintails. In another water impoundment a Great Blue Heron caught a fish, carried it in his bill several feet, and proceeded to wash it off in the water several times as he ate it, and of course, I documented it.”
Hatfield is a member of the Heard Nature Photography Club in McKinney and the Plano Photography Club. Several of her images have been awarded blue ribbons, first and second place and honorable mention in the clubs’ competitions.