Early on in my adult life, it was my children as they grew up that were my subjects. I also moved onto photographing weddings and other events in the mid 1980s. These include youth sports, school photos and portraits. I had an in-home studio. I did this through the late 1990s.

As digital made its debut, I kind of lost interest  and put the cameras away.  In 2010 the company I worked for retired me. In 2014, my wife bought me a new digital camera for Christmas. I had no idea what I was going to do with it. I toyed with the idea of taking wedding photos again. NOT!!! 

I was intrigued with digital. But I could not seem to get the level of excellence that I was seeing other people produce. A friend told me I was going to have to learn some Lightroom and Photoshop, and rethink the way I had learned to operate a camera.

So for the most part I am self taught on some editing skills. Next was the subject to photograph. Facebook was new to me and I got attracted to wildlife photos. Mostly birds and wildlife from around Florida. This soon evolved to birds in flight and in their natural environment.

You don't need the most expensive camera system out there. KEH and MPB have a lot of great used cameras for sale right now as people change over to mirrorless cameras.

DSLRs are great to learn on and when mastered give great results. 

4. How’d you come to be a member of the BPC? 

To be honest, I can't remember.  Maybe my friend George Ephrem told me about it??  It has been a while.

5. Tell us about a few images of which you are most proud, explain how they were made, and please share them so we can feature them. 

As I have mentioned, I mostly photograph birds and wildlife.

A few years back I got my Captain's License so I can take people out that would like to photograph wildlife from a boat platform. We photograph eagles, ospreys, and other shore birds. I also like to take people out to Huguenot for the royal terns during the nesting season.

The LaChua Trail in Gainesville for the Snail Kites is also great. There's always opportunities for great shots of the alligators. A lot of photographing wildlife is being at the right place at the right time. Having the light behind you over your shoulder, and the wind to your back helps as well. 

6. What advice would you give to someone considering joining BPC? 

Don't be afraid to join. Nobody is a stranger here. BPC welcomes everybody on every skill level here. Somebody is always ready to give you a hand in learning the craft.

There are always outings that offer great hands-on experience, along with the monthly meetings with great knowledgeable speakers.