Carlisle nature center

I've already been asked to show my bird images again in september and october of 2013 at the carlisle nature center.

June in westlake

Details are still being worked out, but the city of westlake is interested in my birds are people too presentation...possibly in june 2013.

14th annual tremont art festival

I will be one of the five emerging artists displaying their work on september 15 and 16.

Photo Display Setup Today!

Well, today is the day I setup my prints at the Nature Center at North Chagrin Reservation. Looks like I'll have about 40 prints to hang. I'm glad this is for a month cause packing and unpacking and everything else in between takes a lot of work.

The Bird Photographer's Web Site

Going Old School

When I made my switch to bird photography in 2006, I also made my switch to digital. That's when I bought a Canon EOS 20D (still one of the best cameras Canon has ever made for us bird photographers).

So I never used film for my bird images. Until now. I just got my hands on a Canon A2 film camera. By the end of July I'll be photographing birds in film, going old school.

Stay tuned for that one!

Birds are People 2 Book Proof Approved!

My latest book, Birds are People 2 is finally approved for sale.
Whew! The book should be available on Amazon.com by the
beginning of July.

Details about this book and my others can be found at:
www.thebirdphotographer.com

The Amazon price will only be $19. But, if you contact me
directly and order from me directly, I can sell you the book
for only $15.

Bobolinks

Thanks to an article from the Plain Dealer, I visited the site where the Richfield Coliseum use to be. In its place are acres and acres of land. On that land are a good number of Bobolinks and other birds. I arrived a little after 6am on 6/9/2012.

The question was, where do I setup? I picked a spot in the field where there were growth a little higher than the rest of the field. This would give me a great shot and separation when a Bobolink would land. It took lots of patience, but I did get a few nice shots during the 3 hours I was there.

Visit www.thebirdphotographer.com for these images and more.

Kirtland Bird Club Presentation

Completed my Birds are People Too slide presentation for the Kirtland Bird Club on June 6. There was a wonderful turnout, at least 24 people were in attendance. Everyone was fantastic and friendly. Sold a few copies of my books afterwards. I was even asked to sign one, which I'm always honored to do, but I never know what to say :) Thankfully, the lady did :)

Eve of Kirtland Bird Club Presentation

Well, its the eve of my presentation at the Kirtland Bird Club. My first one of the year. I think I've swapped images dozens of times in just the past day alone.

Also tested my projector just in case there isn't one there. Everything worked fine...until I dropped it. But it seems okay.

Its so cool to see my images larger than life.

Dike 14

Visited the great Dike 14. To me, it wasnt that great as far as bird photography goes. Its so dense the birds are too deep in to even attempt a shot. There are some clearings where the light can get thru, but all i saw were red winged blackbirds.

Did get a nice shot of a deer at least.

My little chickadee

Had a great weekend to try out my backyard setup. Got some fantastic photos of the chickadee.

Why Don't People Listen?

There are two blinds available at North Chagrin. My partner for 9:30am shooting wanted to shoot from the other blind. I told her she shouldn't because she'd be facing right into the sun, resulting in under exposed photographs (plus, she had no flash). What does she do? She shoots straight into the sun.

People...unless you're looking to create something different, always shoot with the sun at your back.

The 400 F5.6 Lens

I've always used the 100-400 lens for my intermediate lens when it came to bird photography. A few years ago, I had to sell it, which was painful.

I was looking to get another one, but after reviewing my past images, I've discovered that I was usually on the 400mm side of length. Since primes are sharper than zooms, I started to look for a 400mm. I didn't have the thousands of dollars for a 2.8. I did find that the 400 F5.6 was a highly regarded lens.

So I started to save for that lens. As luck would have it, Art Morris offered to sell his to me for a great price, which I couldn't turn down.

I finally got to put the lens thru its paces during the May 5-6 weekend at North Chagrin Reservation. The first day I used it in combination with my Canon 580ex and Better Beamer. One word...heavy. But, even though the lens didn't have IS and with the weight, I still created some grrreat images (btw, no tripod).

The next day I took out for another spin, without the flash. Of course the setup was lighter and again, the lens did not disappoint.

So if you're looking to save a few bucks, try to get your hand on a 400 F5.6 lens. In the right hands, the images will be popping out from the screen or paper.

Songbird photography

Just received alan murphy's songbird setup photography cd. Learned a lot. Cant wait to try out his advice on my backyard.

Hate This Weather

I can't catch a break for my weekends. Finally a Sunday with no rain in the forecast, but the highs will only be in the 40's, which means the 30's in the early morning. Can't wait for spring to arrive for real.

Photos on Display

My bird photos will be on display during the whole month July at the Nature Center at North Chagrin Reservation in Willoughby Hills, OH.

I'm Officially a Mugger

Well, after 13.5 days of my Smugmug trial, I decided to end it and sign up for real. It also helps I had a coupon for 20% off for a year.

As I was customizing my site, I was visiting other sites for ideas. I was also looking at their prices when I came across bird photographs. One photographer was selling, well, hopefully trying to sell cause this is robbery...$45 for an 8x10...and the images were horrible!

Luvin Smugmug

I'm really loving this SmugMug. I've already forwarded my 3 domain names to this one. Still have 7 days left of the free trial, which I'm gonna use every single second :)

The customization is going great, thanks to the great help of the Dgrin crew.

Going to start uploading a few more photographs as the days progress.

I finally get some free time to work on my new smugmug site, but of course, the entire site is down. There's one day of my free trial gone to waste.

My first blog post!

If you're even remotely interested in bird photography, follow me...especially if you live in Ohio!