In 2015, David created the Virginia Beltway Photography Meetup Group which, now has over 2,000 members. The Group features at least two monthly field trips. This presentation is based on David’s new book, “Virginia Beltway Photography Meetup Guide Book.” In it, he describes 25 locations the Meetup Group frequently visited over the past six years.

Photography is David Crooks’ passion and capturing the beauty of nature is the reward. From his early days of chasing cardinals in his neighborhood to visiting many local and far away, parks, reserves, and other places where “wildlife” lives, David pursues his love of photography.

In 2014, David, his wife Cynthia, and their dog Sam moved to Annandale, Virginia, from Leesburg, Virginia to be closer to work. He was a member of the Loudoun Photo Club for about 5 years and then in 2015, joined Northern Virginia Photographic Society (NVPS). In 2016, he volunteered to be the Webmaster of the NVPS website.

On January 15, 2015, David decided to create a local photography Meetup. He knew there were many great places to photograph the wildlife along the beltway near his home. Over six years later, the Virginia Beltway Photography Meetup Group has over 2,000 members and he leads about two field trips a month. With the pandemic lockdown starting in the middle of March 2020, he continued to meet with the members of the group with online meetings to continue the social aspect of the group. As the parks opened up, the Group started back with at least two field trips a month by wearing masks and social distancing in addition to having online presentations.

During the pandemic, David wrote the “Virginia Beltway Photography Meetup Guide Book” based on his Meetup group and describes the locations visited in the past six years. The book is available in both paperback and as an ebook/Kindle version.