I didn’t travel to Indonesia for these photos of the Umbrella Cockatoo, where they originated. I walked down the street to my neighbor’s house.

My neighbor Peggy Hewitt has 14 exotic birds she has rescued and is trying to find bird lovers to buy them from her.

Someone wanting to adopt a parrot must know they live a very long time as pets. The umbrella cockatoo is a long-term commitment for an owner—this species can live up to 70 years with proper care and attention.

Photographers often think they must go somewhere exotic to find the unknown.

Well, my mentor Don Rutledge always said that the best stories are often in your backyard, or my case, next door.

I have lived at my house for the past nine years, and this is the very first time I have been to Peggy’s house and seen her birds.

When we first moved to our home, my daughter, Chelle, talked to her and saw all her birds.

When teaching photography one-on-one to a student at my house, I tried to create some things we could photograph around the neighborhood. We ran into her and asked when we were out photographing the fall colors.

I think the one thing keeping most photographers from getting better is their fear of talking to people.

Walking outside and looking for nature shots is much easier than walking next door and saying hello to your neighbor.

While nature photos can be stunning, I don’t think any pictures from my yard were as exciting until I talked to my neighbor. By getting to know my neighbor, I discovered something much more exotic than I would expect to find when I travel the world, but it was just next door.

Have you met your neighbors and found out what their hobbies are or what they do for work? Maybe your best pictures have been in your neighborhood all this time, and you were too scared to talk to people to find out.