I use the camera as a tool to document nature in the New York City region, especially Long Island, where I've lived for 40-plus years, in my winter home on Florida's Space Coast, and on my travels. I also just plain enjoy taking photos of the natural world! I do not consider myself a pro photographer but rather a nature photography enthusiast. I do not own a SLR or mirrorless camera, as they are too cumbersome to carry into the field given my limited mobility related to Post-Polio Syndrome. For a number of years I happily used the Nikon Coolpix P900 with its amazing 83x zoom - a great advantage for photographing those often distant birds! I also liked that it had GPS so my records of plants and animals have more value to databases like I-Naturalist and E-Bird. Unfortunately, I have been unable to get replacement batteries for the P900, which Nikon archived, so have since replaced it with the Nikon Coolpix p950, which has pluses and minuses. On the plus side, it has a setting for bird photography that works in most but not all situations (it locks on the bird but does not do well with flocks), and its electronic viewfinder is wider and brighter. On the con side, it lacks GPS, and its SnapBridge app, which is supposed to record the GPS, sometimes works and sometimes doesn't - very frustrating!

I'm learning how to use my camera better, grateful for online tutorials and tips offered freely by some of the pros out there, like Bryan Pfeiffer. Hopefully my best photos reveal the beauty of what I see. I make every effort to accurately identify what I am recording. My main aim is to record the biodiversity I am witnessing in my lifetime, even as it diminishes.

Besides photography, I write about nature and natural history. My first book was City at the Water's Edge: A Natural History of New York (Rivergate/Rutgers, 2007) and my most recent book is At the Glacier's Edge: A Natural History of Long Island from the Narrows to Montauk Point (Rutgers, April 2024). I also have a website on the nature of the New York City region with many photos: www.newyorknature.us