Carol Spry captures the mercurial beauty of Michigan wildlife in latest exhibit 

FRIDAY, Nov. 1 — Nature photographer Carol Spry trembled the first time she picked up her Nikon D40. At the time, she was a single mother transitioning to an empty nester getting back into the swing of point-and-shoot photography.  

Since then, Spry has been published in Birds and Blooms magazine and Sport Aviation magazine. She’s displayed her work in Art Prize in Grand Rapids and several Greater Lansing locations. Her exhibit is Sunday, Nov. 3, at the East Lansing Hannah Community Center. The display captures the fickle beauty of winter in a way few Michiganders can admit to seeing in person.  

“I grew up in the country out east — my playground was 10 acres of woods. I would climb up in trees and sit quietly watching the wildlife around me. As I got to be 11, my parents got me a point-and-shoot camera, and I was constantly shooting sunsets and animals. It just stuck with me,” she said.  

Determined to get a picture of the straits of Mackinac in winter, Spry bundled up to the hilt and dug her cleated boots into the icy terrain of the Sault Locks in the middle of January. Her husband, waiting back in the car, watched her disappear into the fog created by strong winds whipping up snow from the ground into the air.  

“The ice was absolutely blue, it was absolutely beautiful,” said Spry.  

As a nature photographer, Spry is excited by the hunt for the prefect shot, but she also has immense patience to wait for all the necessary elements to come together.  

“Sandhill cranes are a big favorite and Blue Herons. So I will often go up to Kensington Park early in the morning and wait for the birds to start moving around,” she said  

However, awareness of a creature’s daily routine doesn’t always amount to the ideal shot, she added. In those moments, when the birds are nowhere in sight and the coldness of the morning starts to bite, she’ll remain still and tell herself, “five more minutes.”  

“There is always something to get a picture of, even if it’s not exactly what I imagined,” she said. 

The exhibit will include framed photographs for sale, as well as matte prints, note cards and calendars. 

Carol Spry Photography Exhibit: Artist Reception 

1 p.m., Free  Sunday, Nov. 3

Exhibit runs until  Saturday, Nov. 30 

East Lansing Hannah Community Center 

819 Abbott Road, East Lansing 

(517) 420-1942