Photos, essays on display at Nature Center

If you love taking in the outdoors but don't feel like being bitten by the remaining bugs and ticks, the Cape Girardeau Conservation Nature Center will be your ideal destination throughout the month of October.

Nature photography will be featured all month at the Nature Center in Cape Girardeau with photographs by Noppadol Paothong, staff photographer for Missouri Conservationist.

According to Paothong's website, he discovered his love and passion for wildlife photography in college in 1995. His photography skills have been recognized by more than 60 regional and national awards. The focus of his exhibit will be "My Favorite Photos and the Stories Behind Them."

In addition to those taken by the award-winning photographer, the Nature Center will also feature winners from the Mingo Flora and Fauna Photo Contest.

The contest featured pictures of wildlife and scenery specifically from the Mingo National Wildlife Refuge in Puxico, Mo., on the Wayne-Stoddard County Line.

"The theme was to promote public awareness of the uniqueness of the refuge," said contest chairman Aaron Horrell. Among the categories that participants competed in were "Mingo Landscape," "Native Wildlife," "Native Plants," "Artistically Enhanced" and "People in Nature."

Horrell said that "artistically enhanced" refers to a picture that might have been altered using Photoshop. The artist takes elements from other pictures, combining them or modifying elements of a photograph for artistic effect. An artistically enhanced photo may be entered in other categories, but that specific category allows for more expression by the photographer. He said to keep things fair, "professionals did compete with professionals." There was also a youth category for those 17 and younger.

Horrell said there were about 150 entries this year "but each year the number creeps up." He considers that a testament to the beauty of the Mingo National Wildlife Refuge. He said there are a few entries that were taken and developed the "old-fashioned way" but the majority of the photographs were digital.

The Paothong exhibit and the winners of the Mingo Flora and Fauna Photo Contest will last through October at the Cape Girardeau Conservation Nature Center in County Park North.