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NaturePhotoBank.com

Landscape Inspiration:
William Keith
(outside link)
I
generally
participate in a couple of photo trips each year, generally to areas
located on the West Coast of the US such as Yosemite,
the Eastern Sierra, and miscellaneous coastal locations. These groups
are comprised of from between 10
to 15 photographers, from experienced to novice, lead by someone I
hope knows where to take us at
the right time. Some of the great photographers concentrate on
specific types of photography in specific
locations. I don't have that luxury and depend on someone more
knowledgeable to maximize photographic opportunities in only a limited
amount of time.
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WildlifePhotoBank.com
Back in the
late 90's I was walking around Wild Animal Park, just north of San Diego,
and couldn't avoid noticing these quite large white birds flying around the
ponds. The above image is the first image I captured of a bird. You could not only see their feathers capture the wind but you
could hear it. I don't remember seeing these birds in the 60's and
70's. I have now learned that the Common Egret
was nearly driven to extinction in the
late 1800's by the plume trade, particularly in Florida. They have made a
great comeback, especially in
Southern California.
What do these
birds have to do with photography? My guess is that these birds helped
kick start an interest
in bird
photography by a lot of amateur photographers including myself. Of
course, once you've photographed egrets, you will add pelicans, ducks,
eagles, and so forth. Being able to capture the dynamic motion of a
bird in flight is exhilarating, especially with the new capabilities of the
digital SLRs and advancement in telephoto lens technology.
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FloraPhotoBank.com

There's no better
compliment than when someone tells you that your images look like a painting
(and the image they are
looking at hasn't been post processed to look like a painting).
Over the years, I've even had internet based water painting clubs ask
permission if they could have their members paint some of my images. Of course I agreed without
hesitation.
While flowers
may seem like an easy target due to their natural beauty, capturing that
beauty and recreating it on paper can be
a little more difficult. Some photographers have really unique and
stunning styles while I prefer to stick
with the painting-like style.
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SoCalPhotoBank.com

Southern California is rich with some of the most beautiful and
differentiated parks in the world. It's very sad
that foreign visitors travel thousands of miles to visit the
Huntington Library in San Marino but most locals don't
even know it exists. Less extravagant but equally as
beautiful gardens include Descanso, the Arcadia
Arboretum, and the Living Desert in Palm Springs. These gardens
provide ample opportunity to photograph a variety of subjects throughout the year.
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SurfRef.com

Back in 1968, my
dad gave me his old Contax IIIA with 135 mm F4 lens. I was
living in the southern part of the San Francisco
Peninsula and surfing in Santa Cruz every weekend. I remember
using the camera for the first time at Steamers
Lane. I thought this was the perfect surf photo setup.
With great anticipation I had the first roll of film processed
but it looked like I would need a lot more than a 135mm lens to take
surf shots. Oh well, back to surfing
in the cold waters
and photographing sunsets on the San Francisco Peninsula.
In the late 90's I
decided trying to shoot surf images again. Since I had owned a
few Nikon cameras, I decided to stay
with Nikon telephotos. Big mistake. I did rent Nikon
500 and 600mm manual focus lenses but these were antiquated
compared to the auto focus lenses Canon was producing. I did
purchase a Nikon manual focus 1,200mm F11 lens manufactured in 1984 for the LA Olympics.
This is a great collectors item since only a few hundred
were ever manufactured. It's quite humiliating being
surrounded by Canon cameras on the beach
all whizzing away while my Nikons were going
clunk, clunk, clunk.
I was able to
get serious about shooting surfers at ASP contests with the purchase
of a Sigma 300-800mm F5.6
Sigmonster in 2004. Since its purchase I have used a number of
bodies on the lens and am currently using
the Nikon D300 and power base. With such a perfect lens,
I can only blame myself if I miss a shot. Post processing is
becoming a much more important part of the process. In fact,
most of the improvement in the
appearance on my surf images is due
to improvements in my post processing technique.
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SportsPhotoBank.com
FootballPhotoBank.com

When it comes to capturing
dynamic sports action, few sports rival football. While professional
football and USC football are out of my league, I really enjoy shooting
junior college football games. I have almost unlimited access to the field
of play and burn a few extra calories moving up and down the field. The
athletes are just as intense as in the big 4-year colleges with the hope of
obtaining a scholarship to one of those nationally known colleges. This is
also my opportunity to post select images on my site which I also send to individual
players on request, usually by their parents.
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FigurePhotoBank.com

Photographing the human figure takes a lot more thought and
preparation than one would normally think. Unlike a scenic, where the photographer can explore a static
situation or a moving subject where you take your best
shot
in a repetitive environment, figure photography requires
direct and personal communication with another human
being.
However, from an aesthetics point of view, photographing the human
figure
is not that different than a
beautiful landscape.
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