I am a retired middle school science teacher who loves the outdoors and photographing real life events, landscapes and wildlife. I am interested in doing more macro level photography and learning photo editing skills and tools as well. So, when the subject gets to macro and editing, I'm all eyes and ears.

My hobbies include writing, travel, bicycling and singing. I use a Nikon D750 for my wildlife photography and any photography that I do when not on a bicycling adventure. My lenses include a Tamron 24-70mm, F/2.8, a Tamron 28-300mm and a Sigma 150-600mm.

After Mason's first day lesson on gear, I will be spending more time matching my equipment with my trip and experience. I'm paying for this class with part of the refund from a COVID-cancelled trip to the Galapagos last Summer. In retrospect, I'm glad it was cancelled because my equipment was not suited for the ship-to-shore, kayak, biking adventure that this trip was about. This class has already paid for itself!

I was born and raised in California's San Joaquin Valley and currently live in San Jose, California. I served in the Peace Corps in Belize from 1988-90. Central America, specifically the highlands of Guatemala, is without a doubt my overall favorite part of the world. That might change when I see some new ones, but I'm sticking with that for now.

Now that I'm retired, I'm excited to learn more of the features of my camera and how to equip myself for different experiences without breaking the bank. Any tips on how to do manual photography (non-auto mode) will be of interest to me as well.

In case you're interested in learning more about my non-photographic life, I invite you to visit my Blog. You can read it at singingcyclistmusings.com