I'm Tom Patterson in Foley, Alabama, living just 7 miles of North of our sugar sand beaches of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach. A Georgia native but spent all my adult life (so far) in Alabama. I worked as a Registered Forester for the State of Alabama for 28 years and retired a few years ago. My lifelong passion for radio controlled airplanes and helicopters led me to creating a business of aerial photography using model aircraft to capture unique images of coastal real estate and construction. The business quickly escalated into the need to use full scale aircraft and now I enjoy renting a plane and pilot and hanging out the window with my camera as we fly along the beach! Not a lot of money to be made but it allows me to buy more camera gear. :)

I am fortunate to live on a bayou of Wolf Bay where wildlife still abounds. Birds are almost always visible from my office window and the seat of my canoe. I've only just begun my quest of being a bird photographer and find it quite an enjoyable challenge. I do have a website (being remodeled with smugmug) at www.gulfcoastaerials.com

Looking forward to learning lots from the BPN community.