kdee64's photostream Pro User

"Beginners worry about equipment, pros worry about skills, masters worry about light"


An amateur nature and landscape photographer for about 40 years, more seriously so in recent years, I'm a semi-retired youth worker in a treatment facility for cognitively and behaviourally challenged adolescents in Whitehorse Yukon, north of the 60th parallel in Canada.

As a photographer, my goal is to celebrate the infinite beauty of the natural world. My images have been published in books, online publications, newspapers, magazines and are used by businesses, NGO's, educational institutions and conservation initiatives internationally. Some of these include: Wikipedia, Canadian Wildlife Federation, World Handbook of Birds- IBC, Prafulla.net, Biosphère, National Geographic Daily News, The New York Times, National Examiner, Mother Nature Network, Hello Magazine, Iltalehti, Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, the Royal Ontario Museum, The Globe and Mail, the Telegraph, The Sun, the Daily Mirror and other international newspapers. I was honoured when some of my photos were in included in a collection from nature photographers around the world, a project that aims to preserve digital images of the world's wildlife species for posterity. This is an initiative of the London-based ARKive organization, partly the brainchild of David Attenborough. Recently one of my images received an honourable mention in the World Bird Photo contest, selected out of 10,754 entries from 128 countries.

If you're interested in any of my work, it is available at no cost to non-profit organizations and those of very limited means--just send me a Flickr mail. To purchase a high res file, high quality fine-art prints, metal or canvas, please contact me at my Flickr mail or Hotmail to make arrangements that suit your needs and budget: kdee64@hotmail.com
(I can also provide an interesting, well-written article/story suitable for publication to go with any of my photos)

I inherited my creative side from my mother who was a water-colour and acrylic artist, as well as an actress trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London. Other than photography, I'm into birding, outdoors activities, natural history, movies, art, technology, music, cooking, markets, political affairs, having a good laugh and drinking a little red wine or good ale. To me, photography is the ultimate fusion of art and technology, and those with a strong sense of creative vision, who have also mastered the technology and software, are best equipped to produce outstanding images. On those few occasions that I create a decent image, it is often the result of hard work, planning, time and effort.

I believe there's too much emphasis on expensive gear, formula-style and imitating the work of others in photography, usually not enough on the all-important creative side. A truly outstanding photo is usually the result of a harmonious composition, interesting and original subject matter, attractive light and colour. Many excellent landscape photographers do eye-popping renditions of others' work at popular photogenic venues. Some practice a formula-style 'minimalism' that can rob the land of its unique beauty, creating a generic image that could be taken anywhere. These images make great 'eye-candy', but are found everywhere, and have become unoriginal at best, pretentious at worst. I try, but am not always successful, in creating original, harmonious and hopefully unique images of the natural world north of 60.

I find the full-frame cameras and big expensive glass too cumbersome and heavy to carry around for nature photography in this rugged Yukon landscape. There are few trails here and I often bush-whack to get the shot. Currently I shoot with the Nikon D7000, D5100 and my trusty old D60's of which I own 3, all attached to different lenses.

Popularity has never equaled quality in the arts, especially true in photography. Some of the more uninspired photos get hundreds or even thousands of views. On the other hand, many aesthetically brilliant, creative images get only a handful of "views" "comments". "favs".These seem to be unreliable indicators of a photograph's quality. Certainly, the photographer should know intuitively if his/her image is outstanding or perhaps not so great, though I suspect it's human nature to seek the approval of others, regardless of image quality.

By design, I have a relatively small contact list, mostly loyal supporters, and the odd photographer whose work I'm interested in learning from on a temporary basis. Commenting and viewing can be time-consuming, so please forgive me if I can't reciprocate by adding you as a contact, if you have listed me as one. However, like everybody, I appreciate comments, and constructive criticism is especially welcome if it will improve my work.