About Me
I’m an amateur bird/wildlife photographer based in San Francisco. I’ve been doing nature photography since early 2021. I average about 2 photographic sessions per week. I’m mostly self-taught through a combination of YouTube videos, Instagram posts, and a few online feedback sessions with a professional wildlife photographer. Most of the photos on the site were taken after I’d done at least 50 photographic outings.
I’m not a morning person, so I generally prefer locations that work well during the day or in the evening. I do morning photo shoots in the winter when it isn’t necessary to wake up at 4 or 5 am.
Equipment
With rare exceptions, the photos are taken with a Sony full-frame camera using either a 200-600 mm f/5.6-f/6.3 lens or a 70-200 mm f/2.8 lens.
Most of my photos are taken hand-held. For photography near water, I use a Naturescapes Skimmer ground pod. If the waters are calm enough, I’ll sometimes use a travel tripod in the water. In either case I use a Fotopro E6H gimbal head.
Editing
I edit all of my photos in Capture One, making full use of all its tools including dodging/burning, exposure adjustments, curves, selective layers, and cloning/healing.
In the guide, photos may be cropped down to 50% of the original frame for composition. I avoid cropping photos beyond 50% in the guide to give an accurate sense of the possibilities at each location. Photos on my blog, Instagram, and other social media are often cropped quite a bit more.