I no longer post my photos to flickr. I now post my photos at iNaturalist; CalPhotos, BugGuide, LepSnap & Calflora.

I've been doing closeup & macrophotography of marine invertebrates since 1970. I started with a Nikon F & micro Nikkor 55mmm f/3.5 lens, (and PB4 bellows for small animals); moved on to N2002 and then Nikon F4. I now use a Nikon D200, with micro Nikkor 60mm f/2.8 lens, or micro Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 lens for marine invertebrates. For very small inverts I use a Nikon macro Nikkor 19mm f/2.8 lens or Minolta bellows micro 12.5mm f/2 lens on my bellows. Since I retired I also photograph insects using micro Nikkor 200mm f/4 on a monopod, & SB800 flash or Nikon R1 flash system. I add a Nikon TC-201 teleconverter and Nikon 6T diopter to the 200mm lens when I'm photographing very small insects. Over the years I amassed a large collection of 35mm slides of local marine inverts, now I've started to try to create a similar collection in digital format.

Most of my marine invertebrate photography is done in the intertidal or (for smaller specimens) in a small temporary aquarium, after which specimens are returned to the intertidal.

(Jan 2008) Just bought a Canon 40D, MP-E 65mm macro lens, & MT-24EX flash to photograph the tiny guys. Not exactly easy to get the subject in focus, but anything hand-held at 4x or 5x won't be easy because of the incredibly shallow depth of field. I'm just happy to be able to photograph some of the tiny guys in the field.

(August 2011) We purchased 40 acres of "rocks, weeds, & steep slopes" at Willow Springs, San Benito Co., CA, ostensibly as a place to shoot clay pigeons. It's hot, dry & somewhat desolate, but we discovered there are interesting bugs & wildflowers on the property. A year later we purchased the adjacent 40 acres of even steeper land. We call our 80 acres: "The Ranch", even though there is no livestock grazing the land now. Found the new 40 acres has a small spring, so we built a path (with many switchbacks) down the steep hillside, through the sagebrush so we could hike down to the spring. Eventually we decided that the 350 foot elevation drop down the steep path, from where we parked the 4WD, was a bit much for a couple of old retired folks, so we had a bulldozer build a 4WD road so we can now drive down to the spring. The spring was just a small puddle in a dry creek bed, being fed from a mud-slick just a few feet upstream. So I had a backhoe open up the mud-slick to create a 1 foot deep pool for the local wildlife to drink. The 4 trail cams at the spring have recorded 1 visit by a mountain lion, numerous visits by a bobcats, coyotes, wild pigs, deer, skunks, woodrats, ravens, red-tailed hawks, & many other smaller birds, including lots of quail. The spring is a great place to photograph various bugs, as it is likely the only surface water available within a couple of miles.

(June 2012) Purchased Nikon D800, to have "full frame" dSLR, that uses all of my current lenses.

(Sept 2012) Purchased Kenko Auto Extension Tubes to increase reproduction ratio with Nikon 60mm, 105mm & 200mm macros lenses.

(Dec 2013) Purchased 4 Bushnell 8MP Trophy Cam HD Max Black LED Trail Cameras to place at the spring on our country property. Great little cameras to allow us to see what's visiting the spring when no one is around. They also take IR photos at night. Photo and video quality is OK, but certainly not going to get any photos for National Geographic.

(May 2014) Bought Canon 70D for higher resolution when using MP-E 65mm lens.

I've studied nudibranch systematics, taxonomy, & nomenclature, as well as their feeding preferences for about 40 years. See: Nudibranch Systematic Index & Nudibranch Food List & Nudibranch Bibliography.

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