My Photography

The trip to Tanzania in 2009 made me very enthusiastic about wildlife photography. By mid-2013, my wife, Beverly, decided, “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em,” and became an accomplished photographer. We have gone on many photography tours going to many exotic destinations. These tours are led by professional photographers who double as teachers.

One of these instructors was Andy Biggs of Houston, Texas; he is a renowned African wildlife photographer. He selects images based on the number of adjectives that modify the scene. Thus, if an image is serene, colorful, and funny, he would prefer it over one that was just surprising. I have chosen to emphasize present participial adjectives that imply action, i.e. those derived from verbs like flying, fighting, or hunting. Perching and sleeping are less desirable descriptors. While many of my wildlife images do not capture action, my favorites usually do. Action also gives insight into the behavior of the animal.

Many consider the best wildlife images to be clean, where the background is very out of focus so the viewer concentrates mainly on the main subject. While I also like this style, my favorites are those that show the animal in its environment. Sometimes, the surroundings are messy. It is a matter of taste. A special case applies to flying birds. My ideas were strongly influenced by another professional, Roy Toft of Northern San Diego, California; he is an award winning wildlife photographer. Roy said, “Don’t you think it is awfully boring to see images of flying birds against a blue sky?” His observation had driven me to try to shoot my pictures of flying birds against a background that includes other objects, often out of focus, such as a mountain.

The vast majority of the pictures on this website are taken of animals in the wild. Capturing such pictures depends on your skill and that of your guides. Guides often have incredible knowledge of the behavior and haunts of the wildlife in their locale. Sometimes, we spend hours looking for a particular species even in game parks with a high density of the desired subject. When we finally encounter our target and get a quality image, there is an adrenaline rush that is very rewarding. Success is more exciting when contrasted to disappointments like spending a winter week in Yellowstone and coming away with no good pictures of wolves. In general, we avoid bated situations if possible because they do not come with the thrill of the search; hummingbird feeders and other setups are rare exceptions. I am no longer a fan of zoos for myself because there is no comparison to seeing the same animals in the wild. Zoos do educate the general public about exotic species and play a role in swaying people to be conservation minded, which helps reduce habitat loss that is the major threat to wildlife. Zoos do threaten some species like the Grey-crowned Crane because all feel they must have one.

Color images are my favorites. On occasion, the color in the picture does not seem to do much, so I covert it to black and white. There are a few black and white images scattered around this website.

Hal Davis is a Los Alamos friend and traveling companion who specializes in what I call cultural photography. He tries to capture people people in their colorful indigenous costumes. Hal has taught Beverly and I a lot, and cultural photography has become a strong second interest. Once again, pictures with action fascinate me. We have some journeys largely for the purpose of getting such shots.

Interesting landscapes, buildings, and other subjects are too good not to shoot. However, we do not work at it like many others. We are more opportunistic and capture what happens to be there accidentally. Nonetheless, there are quite a few such shots on this website. I have provided an shortcut to locating the cultural pictures and other subject on the page “…and more.“