Self-taught nature photographer, and lover of the Delaware River and Appalachian Mountains. Most of my photos are taken near the Delaware River within 20 miles of my upper Bucks Co home (and some in my yard) about an hour north of Philadelphia and a bit south of the Lehigh Valley. I prefer taking pics right here in my regular spots in my home patch vs heading off to the crowded hotspots a few hours away where the shooting is relatively easy (Conowingo, Forsythe, Shawangunk, Stateline etc). I do sometimes travel to special places for certain species (e.g., shorebird migration, golden eagle migration) that can't be found locally. The Golden Eagles of eastern North America are my passion (see www.egewg.org) but it's tough to get anywhere near these wary birds...I know a few spots where you can get lucky if you are patient. I am willing to wait long hours for a good shot, be wet or cold and muddy when necessary, and hike to the high rocky places where eagles fly. About 20 miles north of me is the famous Kittatinny Ridge fall raptor flyway where I enjoy the challenge of hawk-in-flight photography (getting close enough is really challenging!).

I use Flickr as a compilation of my photo adventures, and sometimes I get behind and just upload a bunch of stuff from the past season to try to get caught up. Many of my better shots (since 2020 or so) can be found on my daily post to Instagram @dbrandesphotos.

People always seem to want to know about what gear I use... but the brand really isn't important: great results are possible as long as you have a quality lens. There are definitely advantages of mirrorless cameras over DSLRs, like AF tracking and real-time exposure simulation. For me, most of the fun in photography is anticipating and preparing for the shot, concealment and waiting patiently, and then finally making the shot (doesn't often work out of course...). That is the stuff that money cannot buy.

I use Canon, because that's what I started out with and switching brands is basically a fool's errand and waste of money. I buy most of my gear used. For bodies, I use the excellent R3, and sometimes the R7 if I need more reach, with my old 5Div DSLR as backup. For lenses I find that EF glass works great with the new mirrorless cameras. I use the Canon EF500f4ii, EF300f2.8 and EF100-400ii, often with a 1.4X converter. For support, I have Induro and Benro tripods and GH2c gimbal heads (and a vintage Wimberley WH101 and vintage Manfrotto 128 pan head). I use concealment a lot in my photography - LensHide and Tragopan portable blinds, and a diy floating hide for waterfowl. In summer I often shoot from my kayak (see my many green heron shots) - lower and slower is the name of the game. In fact, one of the things I like about nature photography, is that it is necessary to be slow.