The project entailed more than three years of shooting and countless hours behind a computer, but photographer Seth Bynum insists on calling it a labor of love.

Last month, when he finally put his hands on the first edition of his new book, Hylebos: A Photographic Perspective, he knew the outcome justified the effort.

"I've wanted to put together a book of images from the Hylebos wetlands for a long time," said Bynum, who said he has lugged his camera and lenses to the popular park in Federal Way at least once each week since 2005.

"With the growing number of people committed to taking care of this natural resource in Federal Way," Bynum said, "I felt inspired to do my part to show the community and the state the abundant beauty the Hylebos holds."

"Many people still don't know what a treasure the Hylebos is," Bynum added, "I hope my work helps change that."

The 116-page coffee table-style book features hundreds of color photographs, divided into two sections called "flora" and "fauna."

The flora chapter highlights the West Hylebos Wetlands Park off 348th Street at the peak of its seasonal beauty, from budding spring flowers to the brilliant colors of fall. The photos capture the sheer lushness of summer, as well as the wet and frozen park in depths of winter.

Seth used the large color pages of the fauna chapter to display some of his favorite subjects of the Hylebos, its abundant migratory birds.

From the common red-winged blackbird to the Wilson's warbler, Hylebos showcases a variety of images of the diverse winged visitors to the wetlands.

"I'll admit that my book is biased towards photographs of birds," Bynum said. "I've been a birder for many years, and those that pick up this book will quickly learn that the Hylebos holds many species."

Seth said the park's small size and placement along the birds' historic flyway make it a magnet for both birds and birdwatchers.

"The Hylebos acts like an urban refuge for many of the migratory birds that fly along Puget Sound during the spring and fall," Seth said. "Because of the natural habitat the Hylebos provides, the birds just flock here in large numbers."

The author said the Hylebos even draws some rare species, including the red-naped sapsucker, which he captured during April 2006. Birders consider the red-naped sapsucker a rare visitor west of the Cascades.

Readers of the book will find a photo of the bird eating the sap of a willow tree capturing during its two-day stay in Federal Way.

Seth considers his book more than just a celebration of the Hylebos, but rather an effort to preserve it for future generations.

The author partnered with the Friends of the Hylebos (www.hylebos.org), the caretaker organization preserving the entire Hylebos watershed, to create the hard-back photo book.

Bynum has pledged half of the proceeds from the sale of each copy to the Friends of the Hylebos.

"I'm impressed by the work the Friends do to preserve Hylebos," Bynum said, "and I wanted to support them with my photography."

"The Friends' staff and I are big fans of the park, its salmon, its birds and its habitat," the author added. "It was a natural partnership."

Bynum first visited the Hylebos in early 2005, not long after the city of Federal Way had taken control of the park from the state. In a speech to the Chamber of Commerce, Mayor Dean McColgan referred about the wetlands park as one of the top five attributes of the city.

"It sounded like a fascinating place," Bynum said, "but back then it was hard to find, even with a map."

Once he took his first trip around the boardwalk, the author said he knew he had found one of Puget Sound's greatest natural areas.

"I was instantly hooked," Bynum said.

Hundreds of hours and thousands of images later, Bynum said he still sees something new to photograph every time he visits.

In fact, he only faced one obstacle when publishing his book: Narrowing down his list of favorite photographs to print.

"There were so many images in my library that no one had ever seen," Bynum said. "And enough great ones to fill a book three times its size."

"It was difficult to decide which ones I wanted to highlight in this book," he added.

Hylebos: A Photographic Perspective is available on the author's web site: http://www.sethbynum.com/nature.html.

The author will donate half of the proceeds from the book to the Friends of the Hylebos.