About
My current interests lie mainly in nature photography although I do like landscape secondly. After numerous years of abandoning my photography due to making a living I recently have returned and realized how much I have missed it. Graduating to digital with my purchase of a Canon 20D has been a great experience, currently passed on my 20D and graduated to a 5D Mark2 and a 7D. All digital cameras are great. Having come from a 35mm slide background, digital allows more freedom at a much smaller cost excluding the initial equipment purchase of course. Also there's the instant gratification or frustration if that be the case. No more $12 processing costs and waiting. If the shutter doesn't capture what you see then you hit the delete button and can reshoot till the cows come home. Or use the bulb setting and shoot after they get there. This I think is why there are so many amateur photographers like me that are shooting better photos. At least my worst critic ( ME ) think they have improved. With slides you had to contemplate the results prior to making the settings and pressing the shutter button or waste money on processing. Same process but thanks to digital with it's histogram and blinkies the process is easier and results greatly improved. Reshooting is not always possible in nature but with experience should come results.
All this really started this past April 2008 with my photo workshop to Wolf Park Indiana. I have always been intrigued by the wolfs and their mystic. All photos on my site are from this point in time forward except for my slide archives of course. Having taken photographic workshops this past year with Kristen Westlake in Wisconsin and Hank Erdmann in Illinois has not only increased my photographic knowledge but put me on the road to improved results. Workshops are definitely a great way to get feedback on your techniques and help improve your photos. There are many organization to join such as the North American Nature Photography Association that provides great information and workshops to help you in your area of interest. My recent attendance to the NANPA Midwest Road Show in Illinois provided numerous seminars that helped me tremendously as well as the ability to meet other photographers and picking up some great location information and tips. Also thanks to the internet there is an abundance of photographic information available via the pro photographers like Aurthur Morris with their blogs and web sites providing tips, techniques and critiques making it possible and easier for the amateur photographer to improve and create some great images.
As for equipment I have numerous Canon zoom lenses and recently purchased a Canon 500mm telephoto and am really enjoying learning how to use it. It really has made bird photography much more rewarding as the 7D with its 1.6 crop factor 500mm x 1.6 = 800mm and add the 1.4x extender makes it about 1100mm. What a WOW factor. Although there are many pointed discussions regarding full vs. APS-C sensor sizes, getting the final shot is all I am concerned about and the 500mm with the 1.4x extender has made that more possible than ever before with amazing results.
As I take more photographs the latest go to my main page and I route the existing shots to my photo gallery. So my site is dynamic and changes regularly. I do try to get out as often as possible and have found many new interesting spots to shoot thanks to the internet.
My slide archives are an accumulation of the thousands of slides shot over the years and a work in progress. The slides are scanned using an Epson Perfection V750 and processed in Photoshop.
I will also add that I am not impartial to critiques or suggestion on how to improve my photography or my web site so please feel free to drop an email. Just remember I am an amateur "A person who engages in an art as a pastime rather than as a profession" so be gentle in spirit but constructive.
