Ann Marie Brown wasn’t planning to become a photographer when she moved to Maricopa from Salt Lake City. 

She moved for the weather. 

“I no longer wanted to deal with the snowy winters,” said Brown, 66, who lives in the Alterra neighborhood with her husband, Phil. She is originally from Newport, South Wales, in the United Kingdom, and has lived in numerous places across the U.S. since arriving in 1982. 

She ultimately put down roots in the desert south of Phoenix, drawn by Arizona’s balmy climate. What she didn’t expect was the wildlife. 

Not long after settling into their home on Rhea Road, Brown began noticing the steady stream of hummingbirds flitting through the desert landscape. 

“I was truly fascinated by them,” she said. “I thought how cool it would be to try and capture them on camera.” 

She picked up Phil’s trusty old camera and headed outside. 

That first attempt sparked what she now jokingly calls an “addiction.” 

“It’s so exciting to go out walking and not know what nature is going to unfold to you,” she said. 

Brown photographs everything from hummingbirds and dragonflies to larger birds that visit the area’s washes and ponds. Many of the images she captures come from simple neighborhood walks, proving that striking wildlife photography does not always require traveling far from home. 

Her camera is a Nikon D5600, paired most often with either a macro lens or a 70-300mm zoom lens. Brown typically shoots at extremely fast shutter speeds, sometimes as high as 1/4000 of a second, to freeze the motion of birds and insects that move too quickly for the human eye to follow. 

Those split-second settings allow her to capture details that often go unnoticed until she reviews the images on her computer. 

“Lots of times when I’m downloading photos there are things I never saw while taking the shot,” she said. 

One of those surprises came while photographing a hummingbird in flight. Only later did she realize the tiny bird had captured a gnat midair, something she never saw through the viewfinder. 

Another moment stuck with her even longer. 

Brown once photographed a great egret attacking a lizard, firing off a rapid sequence of images at top shutter speed. When she later examined the photos, she noticed the desperate expression on the lizard’s face. 

“It bothered me for days,” she said. “I actually felt guilty for not helping to rescue it.” 

The moment was a reminder of a simple truth she has come to understand through photography: Nature is beautiful, but it can also be ruthless. 

Even so, Brown says the experience of observing the natural world through a lens has changed the way she sees her surroundings. 

“There’s an absolute peace and joy when looking at the world through a lens,” she said. 

For Brown, photography is as much about discovery as it is about the final image. 

And nearly a decade after arriving in Maricopa, she still finds herself surprised by what she sees. 

“Arizona has its own unique beauty,” Brown said. “We truly live in a beautiful place, and it’s so fun to explore that each and every day.” 

[Ann Marie Brown]

[Ann Marie Brown]

[Ann Marie Brown]