"Go, my sons, sell your lands, your houses, your garments and your jewelry; burn up your books. On the other hand, buy yourselves stout shoes, get away to the mountains, search the valleys, the deserts, the shores of the sea, and the deepest recesses of the earth; mark well the distinctions between animals, the differences among plants, the various kinds of minerals, the properties and mode origin of everything that exists. Be not ashamed to learn by heart the astronomy and terrestrial philosophy of the peasantry. Lastly, purchase coals, build furnaces, watch and experiment without wearying. In this way, and no other, will you arrive at a knowledge of things, and of their properties."

 

-- Petrus Severinus, Idea Medecinae Philosophicae, 1571

 

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For many years, I've had those stout shoes and the good fortune to hike into wild places in the American West, to experience glorious displays of nature that most people never get a chance to see. There have been hundreds of times in the backcountry when I said "I wish I had a camera." With the advent of affordable digital photography, I'm finally able share some of those experiences.

Nearly all the photos on these pages were taken with Canon camera bodies and lenses. My principal camera these days is a Canon EOS 5D Mark III. When photographing birds, I generally use the Canon 500mm f/4L IS USM, with and without a 1.4x teleconverter. For closer subjects and in-flight shots, I usually use the Canon 300mm f/4L IS USM, with and without a 1.4x teleconverter.

Whenever possible, I mount the camera and lenses on a TVC 33 carbon fiber tripod from Really Right Stuff. While carbon fiber tripods are lighter than aluminum and magnesium alternatives, the primary advantage for me is greater stiffness and reduced vibration of carbon fiber, essential for obtaining the sharpest possible images. The TVC 33 is the stiffest tripod I've ever encountered. I use a B-55 ballhead from Really Right Stuff and cannot say enough about how well-designed, efficient, fast and comfortable it is.

For backpacking or on longer hikes and climbs when weight is an issue, I use a Gitzo 1541T carbon fiber tripod with a B-25 ballhead from Really Right Stuff. (For more information, see: www.reallyrightstuff.com)

For photos of flowers, fungi, mineral specimens and insects, I generally use the Canon 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM or the Canon 180mm f/3.5L Macro USM. For photos of marine creatures or insects, I most often use the Canon 180mm f/3.5L Macro USM because conditions so often require the longer focal length.

My primary all-purpose, mid-range lens is the Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L USM, the Swiss Army Knife of lenses.

I also do a bit of high-magnification macro photography using the Canon MP-E 65mm lens with a B150-B focusing rail and B2-FAB clamp from Really Right Stuff. This lens can produce images at 1-5X life size.

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All photographs that I post to these Flickr pages are the property of Ron Wolf. They are protected by U.S. and International copyright laws. They are not to be copied, duplicated, downloaded or displayed by any means without my written permission. I take the protection of copyright seriously. You should too.

Toward that end, I do not want my photos to be used by any of the web sites considered to be "content farms" or "mash-ups." Yes, the internet is for sharing. I have concluded that content creators should not share their work with the operators of these sites until the companies aggregating the work of others develop business models that share more in return with the original content creators. I urge other photographers to protect their work from such exploitation.