A little history

My father was a WWII photographer, so there were always real cameras around the house (and a darkroom in the basement) so I started taking "serious" 35 mm pictures early in life. I bought my first SLR (a Minolta SRT101) in the late sixties, learned the Zone System from Fred Picker's book, processed my B&W film at home, and have been clicking away ever since.

 

Presently, my main interest continues to be wildlife photography (mostly birds & bugs, animals and plants with a little landscape thrown in), and my favorite spots in Florida are Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Tosohatchee WMA, Ding Darling, and Everglades National Park, with Penny Lake Preserve, Accadia National Park, Baxter State Park, Quoddy Head State Park, and Maine's lighthouses being my focus in Maine.

 

Please feel free to say "Hi" if you see me in any of those places.

I'll be the guy with the Tilley hat and a 13 pound Canon lens over my shoulder

or hanging from the roof rack of my car.

 

Here’s me in the "Good Old" B&W days

and of course the tree-hugger (click images for more info)

Photos by Dah Wife

(Twin Lens Reflex, processed & printed at home).

and now you can see why my smiley-faces look like this :{)

 

All my images are tagged with KH0831, so if you would like to see the ones Flickr defines as "Most Interesting", you can search "Everyones Uploads" for "KH0831" and click on "Most interesting".

They're not necessarily in my order of preference, but it's a way to see what others seem to like.

Or

You can click on the following link to view the 300 or so images that were picked for Flickr's EXPLORE selection

  

If you see me at Tosohatchee, on Black Point, or at one of our fabulous national parks (thanks Teddy), feel free to say hi, since I’m out there to have a good time, and whether it’s having a good conversation or takin’ pics, I’m gonna have a good time either way.

 

And a bit about my approach to Flickr

I spend most of my time takin’ pics and processing them, so my time on Flickr is somewhat limited.

 

Regarding comments - I tend not to post in groups that require comments, since the vast majority of those groups require posting an advertisement for their group as part of their required comment. Personally, I prefer to have people comment on my work because they want to, and not because they have to fulfill a requirement. I also dislike (and often delete) group ads for groups that don’t require comments since I feel that graphics (especially flashing, glittery, moving cartoons, and otherwise tacky types of graphics) distract from other comments where people actually have something to say. So don’t be surprised when I delete comments with graphics, unless you had something of value to say along with the “comment code”.

Also

If you’re a comment counter, and expect me to comment on as many of your images as you comment on mine, I advise you to look elsewhere, since when I'm perusing pics on the net I tend to only comment on images I feel I have something to say about.

 

Discussions

Feel free to have discussions with other photographers in the comment section of my photographs, and I encourage technical and aesthetic discussions in my comment sections, since two of my main goals with Flickr are to learn from others, and to share what I know with others. Just keep it friendly, and don’t force me to delete your comments. I haven’t had to ban anyone yet, but I suppose there’s always a first.

 

Contacts

I tend not to add contacts to my list since mutual contacts imply an obligation and as it is now I can barely keep up with who’s already on my list. I also have my privileges set so that people who I have defined as contacts can look at my work at the original size. Unfortunately O-size rights also give contacts the right to download my images, so I need to be relatively careful about who has the capability to download original images.

So feel free to make me a contact if you like my work, but if I don’t know you personally, or haven’t had an online relationship with you for an extended period of time, don’t expect me to reciprocate.

 

Using my images

I don’t put watermarks on my images, or upload low resolution copies so I expect that there will be some thievery, but if I find that you are using my copyrighted work w/o my permission I will take action.

However, my terms of use are quite liberal, so please ask if you’d like to publish my work in printed form or on the internet. Generally speaking I will allow use of my work (w/o charge) for educational, or charitable use so long as I have been given credit. I must also know the context of its use, since I do not like my images being used to support causes with which I do not agree.

 

Contact Info

I may be contacted via Flickr-mail, so if you need to contact me you will need to obtain a free Yahoo mail account, and then establish a free Flickr account. If that’s too much trouble, I guess you really didn't need to contact me.

  

Additional Information and Free Advice

 

Dah Basics of Nature Photography (in my opinion anyway)

 

1 - Don’t be in a rush to get somewhere, recognize good opportunities, stay put when you’re in a good spot, and never assume you can come back tomorrow!

 

2 - Learn to be quiet, move slowly when setting up and approaching shy subjects, and avoid hanging out with the paparazzi.

 

3 - When approaching shy subjects look at them out of the corner of your eye, keep something between you and them, try not to walk directly toward them, and move slowly and stop frequently to allow them to become accustomed to your presence (because, believe me, they know you’re there)!

 

4 - When possible, find a good spot you know they like and let them come to you.

 

5 - Use a blind whenever possible (portable hunting blinds are not too heavy or expensive), and staying in your car is in many cases your best option since most animals are accustomed to cars, and over the years I’ve made many great captures sitting in my car parked at a trail-head parking area!

 

6 - Learn how to use your surroundings to best advantage (i.e. stay low, stay in the shadows, keep something between you and your subject, etc.).

 

7 - Learn how to change gears, and go with what’s there when your target subject is nowhere to be found (though there is surely something to be said for being persistent).

 

8 - Buy a cable release and carry a tripod in the field to ensure you get nice crisp captures when the lighting is less than ideal.

 

9 - Save all your captures as Raw files

 

10 - Think about your settings before you shoot.

 

11 - Make autobracket/multiple capture/AF tracking modes your default, or one of your "one button" custom settings, so when the unexpected happens (and there’s no time to think about settings), you’ll have much better odds of making an acceptable capture.

 

∞ - And many more, but those are the basics.

 

And, oh yeah . . . don’t forget to have fun out there!

 

Click on the following Birdshare Group Discussion link if you're interested in my opinion on processed vs. "out of the box images", and a rerun of the above tips on how to work in the field.

  

And finally a few Ansel Adams quotes for those few who have made it this far.

 

“The truly capable photographer is no more conscious of the physical presence of his camera than the musician is conscious of his instrument or the good driver conscious of the mechanical operations of his car, but achievement of this creative independence requires discipline and practice.”

 

and the ever popular

 

"F8 and be there!"