A very long time ago I was given a 110 cartridge-based film camera, so much appreciated as my older sister Cathy thought I might have some fun taking pictures!
Little did she know! The passion began. Next was a lesser expensive SLR, then graduating to a Canon ftb when I was about 20. More Canon cameras and lenses followed until the first Nikon D70 DSLR came along in about 2003. This was after going through 2 Sony "point and shoot" cameras!
A dream I had since I was about 5 years old was to take photos of Red-tailed hawks. Soon after the D70 purchase came the 70-300 mm gear drive lens, and within minutes I had my first hawk in the viewer! This bird was inside 20 feet!
From here, the passion went wild (so to speak). I met up with new friends, they showed me the "how 2's", and I was off and running. Soon, (2008) I was hosting one on one workshops, then groups, then by 2010 - Travel Tours!
Now, 500 programs later we are still going, Africa, Florida, Texas, India, Ecuador and more. Local day trips in Canada and USA keep me busy between travel programs.
Sony gear is in the bag now, all my Nikon equipment has been sold. Sony rocks.
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As for my personal life, fun is my main goal. I have a great time with my family, Daisy and Maria. We do many nature hikes, and now we are enjoying some cottage life in Ontario's North woods.
My family is many generations Canadian, English and Dutch background. Our for-fathers were here in the late 1700's. Carpenters, and farming - they fought in the War of 1812.
My hobbies include woodworking, I used to play a ton of golf, lots of boats, sports, but even still, I do go out with the cameras for fun.
My passion is learning. I watch and study nature documentaries in my spare time. Understanding real nature is the first step to success in this hobby or business.
My images are real. I have left the captive / zoo photography world for years now, and will never go back. This is not real nature, though it is fun for someone wanting to learn photography. I never bait any sort of carnivorous animal or bird. To me, this is not only abusive and unethical, it shows a total lack of respect for the natural world. Pure rubbish!
I do not use any flash, pure and real natural light is my only choice for a light source. I like my images real and natural. I will admit to using Photoshop to fine tune my images, maybe spending 2-4 minutes on an image at most., and also I will clone out a stick or a distracting bright spot within the image if needed.
I do not change backgrounds, I have never done a composite image. (I wouldn't know how) Otherwise my images are quite real.
I am willing to host a tour to just about any great location, if you are interested in working with me, please review my contact information above on this page.
Thanks for reading this far, and I do hope you enjoy my images.
