As a software engineer / application, my day-to-day job has evolved from building software to managing a small team of individuals to ensure the successful deployment of software capabilities for the financial company which I work for.

Photography has become a recent passion of mine over the past couple of years. When I was young, my parents had let me use their telescopic lens on a film body and knew at that point once I had a job which could afford it that I would pick up a camera body and lens to do the same. That is when in 2010 I bought my first DSLR, a Nikon D5000 with the Nikkor 70-300 lens. Since then I've added many more lenses to my kit.

Photography is more of a hobby. I have practiced in various environments and varying subject matter. But lately I've been focusing on photography at the Milwaukee County Zoo.

Zoo photography is probably one of the most difficult styles to successfully execute. You face many types of obstacles - dirty windows, wire fences, reflections, plexiglass window distortions, deepest dark to brightest bright lighting, animal movement, distracting objects. I still maintain if you can execute successful animal portraits at the zoo, you're going to do a pretty good job with other photography applications.

I'm always looking for comments and creative feedback. I still have a lot to learn. It also helps to refresh oneself with the basics of exposure and composition. If you ask for specific criticism or feedback in your photos - I tend to provide my personal constructive feedback whenever possible (check those edges! ;)) . But photography is a form of art. There is no "right" or "wrong" - it's all about communicating your thoughts to the viewer.

If you have any comments or questions, please don't hesitate to ask. I found flickr to be a great community. I appreciate those who take the time to answer questions or provide that feedback to become even better with photography.

Final words, please don't steal my photos. I wish to continue avoiding having to water mark each photo to avoid individuals from illegally copying and distributing my work. If you wish to use my photo, seriously, just ask.

I have also disabled sharing of my photos because one of my photos was shared on tumblr which barely any of the views were referred back to my flickr account. It's great to know many people enjoyed the photo but because tumblr created a *duplicate* copy of the image which would make it impossible to license the photo, if needed.

Zoos Visited:

NEW Zoo (WI)

Lincoln Park Zoo - Manitowoc (WI)

Milwaukee County Zoo (WI)

Henry Vilas Zoo (WI)

Racine Zoo (WI)

Brookfield Zoo (IL)

Lincoln Park Zoo - Chicago (IL)

Miller Park Zoo (IL)

Peoria Zoo (IL)

Niabi Zoo (IL)

Henson Robinson Zoo (IL)

St Louis Zoo (MO)

Indianapolis Zoo (IN)

Toledo Zoo (OH)

Cincinnati Zoo (OH)

Akron Zoo (OH)

John Ball Zoo (MI)

Erie Zoo (PA)

Pittsburgh Zoo (PA)

Buffalo Zoo (NY)

Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium (NE)

Blank Park Zoo (IA)

Como Park Zoo and Conservatory (MN)

Minnesota Zoo (MN)

Great Plains Zoo (SD)

Hutchinson Zoo (KS)

Scovill Zoo (IL)

Brevard Zoo (FL)

San Diego Zoo (CA)

Central Florida Zoo (FL)