Northwoods Photos' photostream  

Thanks for visiting my photostream! Photography has been a huge part of my life for some time now, and I love sharing my passion with the world and viewing other great photos from some of the spectacular photographers out there.

I am entirely self-taught, and have used Pentax equipment from the very beginning. I have a variety of lenses to satisfy most of my creative desires, although I don’t have a large, expensive piece of glass for wildlife work, so any of my wildlife pictures are strictly opportunistic in nature. I don't do any flash photography.

I work as a naturalist/environmental educator in northern Wisconsin, so I get to spend a lot of time outside, learning and observing. With only a couple exceptions, all of the photos on my stream are from what I call the “Northwoods”—northern Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota—with most of them being taken in Wisconsin and the U.P.

I feel that nature photography in this part of the world is a real challenge. There are no spectacular snow-covered mountain peaks like out West, there are no sweeping fog- and mist-laden oceans, and there aren’t too many real opportunities to photograph animals in the wild. Spectacular sunsets & sunrises are a rarity, especially in winter. I believe that the Northwoods has a real subtle beauty, and it takes some substantial effort to portray that in a photo. That is my challenge, but I also call this area “home,” and to me it’s the most beautiful place in the world. My photographic dream is to see and be able to safely take a picture of a tornado.

I’m somewhat of a “purist” when it comes to photography. It was quite a long, soul-searching endeavor for me to even embrace digital photography. Accordingly, I’m not a fan of HDR/blending of exposures, composites, or highly processed/manipulated images (although I have dabbled in some of those techniques, just for fun). To me, those types of techniques cross the line from taking a picture with a camera to making a picture with a computer. Some of the latter truly amazes me, but in my opinion they’re two completely separate art forms. With that being said, however, I thoroughly enjoy viewing some of the creative computer wizardry from others, and I definitely admire the talent and vision used to create such images.

If you like any of my photos, please comment, fave, and/or send me a Flickr-mail—I will definitely respond. But, while it’s always nice to get comments, please don’t do so out of obligation. I'm not real active on this site, but I'll be sure to leave you a nice comment if you desire the interaction with my photostream.

Thanks again for taking the time to visit!