NANCY CAMEL changed careers in mid-life to become a full-time, professional nature photographer and writer. She has photographed extensively in south Louisiana and in the four corners of North America since retiring from her indoors job in 1999.

Specializing in natural history subjects such as wading birds, mammals, reptiles, trees and wildflowers, her travels have taken her to swamps, beaches, wetlands, mountains, meadows, deserts, marinas, national parks and wildlife refuges. She is drawn to photograph rustic and disappearing communities, abstracts in nature, natural landscapes, geological formations, Cajun culture, antebellum homes, lighthouses, agricultural fields and buildings, boat harbors, old churches and cemeteries.

Her photographs and/or related articles have appeared in National Wildlife Magazine, Louisiana Life, Outdoor Photographer, Acadiana Profile, Birdscapes, Wetlands International, and The Times Picayune, as well as on Audubon calendars and websites of the Louisiana Ornithological Society and Florida Audubon Society.

A graduate of the Louisiana State University School of Journalism, Ms. Camel has studied with professional nature photographers through the Rocky Mountain School of Photography and with Arthur Morris, one of the world’s foremost bird photographers.

A resident of Baton Rouge, La., she is a member of the Louisiana Ornithological Society, the Louisiana Photographic Society, the North American Nature Photography Assn. and the American Birding Assn.