I’m Jim Zablotny from Fenton, Michigan. I am an entomologist and I identify insects, snails, weed seeds, and plant diseases for the US Department of Agriculture. As a nature photographer, I work mainly on macrophotography, but dabble in bird, wildflower, and rarely in landscape photography too. I have been a member of NPN for quite a few years.
My PhD dissertation examined the evolution of ant-mimicry in a family of longhorned beetles. My Master’s work dealt with measuring shape changes in jaw bones of several species of sunfish.
I paid my way through college doing scientific illustrations for faculty members and managed to have some of my anatomical illustrations published in Rollin Baker’s Michigan Mammals.
My introduction to nature photography started when I was an undergrad and a trip to Costa Rica started me on my quest in nature photography. I always used Pentax equipment because it was the most affordable camera system when I was an impoverished college student. I recently switched to Nikon primarily for better autofocus and increased frame rate over my Pentax gear.
So, its good to be here and if you need any help with any animal or plant identification–you know where find me…Jim
Oh yeah. Our year is totally upside down now with “summer” in Alaska and “winter” in Florida. Of course, our high temp last July in AK was 71 degrees. and our December low temps seldom get below that here in Florida. If someone has to do it, it may as well be us!
My name is Alex Burke and I’m a full-time photographer from Greeley, Colorado. I grew up in beautiful Estes Park outside of Rocky Mountain National Park, but didn’t really come across landscape photography until I left that backdrop for the Megopolis of Phoenix, AZ after high school. I found myself aching to get out of the city as much as possible and eventually wanted to capture the views I saw.
My journey took my down the path of 35mm film which quickly graduated into large format 4x5" sheet film which I have been using almost exclusively for over a decade. Despite all the advancements in digital, I’m making the most of what I can today with a wooden box and a lot of time. In the last decade I’ve watched a marked increase in the desirability of film photography in this digital age - particularly among a younger generation - and have tried my best to help people grow and make the most out of the old-school process.
I never used NPN back in the day (except perhaps to see local updates on autumn conditions in Colorado), but after spending some time backpacking with David I definitely understand the need for a greater sense of community among nature photographers. I remember the days where people from Flickr would frequently meet up, and I’d love to see more of that happening again today. A connection that is more real than social media.
As far as being a full-time photographer, that’s been the case for the last three years for me. Before that I was a master technician for Volkswagen, fixing the Peoples’ Car at my local dealership. I was fortunate enough that my boss let me go part time after about six years of employment, and I used that time to test the waters in the outdoor art show industry. Since then I’ve been able to make that my full-time income, along with some help from ebook sales, one-on-one training, and a drum scanning service that I offer for film shooters.
I really hope to be able to meet many of you in person in the coming years!
Hi all–My first day here, although I have had a camera of one sort or another in my hands for over 50 years. I believe in life-long learning which is why I am here.
Hi, I’m Craig Marvil. I’d had cameras and a dark room like a lot of teenagers but life kept pushing photography to the back burner. In the early 70’s, I set my Nikonos aside and put a brand new Nikon F2 into an underwater housing and had five years where underwater photography was my primary activity. Then I started a Veterinary Hospital, family came along, and photography was part of the family experiences, but back burner. Something must have transferred as both kids enjoy photography as a hobby.
I retired in early 2018 and photography again became one of my primary activities (my wife says compulsive addiction). I now shoot with a Fuji system, enjoy processing and generally print most of my images. I have lived in San Diego the last 40+ years.
Hello Everyone. I am Todd Grivetti and I have joined NPN to gain increase knowledge, gather feedback and to share my passion for Nature photography with all of you.
I have been a photographer for the past 10 years, and have thoroughly enjoyed being outdoors and capturing the beauty of our world through photographs. I live in Frederick, CO along the front range and grew up in Longmont. I would love to be able to gleen deeper insight and learn how to be a better photographer including better compositions, printing, and publication. I have created my website through wixsite, but would like to get other’s perspectives on some other possible sites as well in order to develop a single professional site. I am 100% self-taught through the internet and some in-person classes as well as workshops.
I love shooting Landscapes and wildlife and find Colorado is a remarkable place to capture my passion. I try to get out most weekends as I am still working to support my photography. I have had several photos featured on CBS4 Denver. I look forward to the opportunity to post some of my work for constructive critiques and feedback.
A huge thank you to both @David_Kingham and @Jennifer_Renwick for the re-development of the site. Maybe we’ll run into each other if you’re ever at the TOAD in Golden.
Would definitely be interested in meeting up and hitting the trails for some photo work. I was just up to the Flatirons on Sunday. Ever been up to Red Mountain Open Space or Eagles nest north of Ft. Collins?
Hell Todd, looks like you don’t live too far from me at all! Yep, I’ve been up to those areas but it’s been a good while - particularly for Red Mountain. Should work my way up there again soon…
So far I’m really enjoying the new version of NPN even though I have precious little time to do so. I’ve been a member of NPN since somewhere around 2005-2006 I believe, and can honestly say NPN has been the single largest factor in my growth in photography. I had been a hobbyist shooter for a long time but wasn’t very committed or very good at it. After joining NPN and gathering the nerve to actually post my first image I immediately began receiving positive, constructive, yet kind critiques. I was hooked. So many people helped me and my photography along over that first year or so, and I hope I have repaid the favor to other newcomers and old-timers alike.
I was a stock broker for most of my adult life, but retired from that in 2006. I now work part-time for Volunteers of America here in Pensacola, FL. As much as I have enjoyed that, I’m thinking about retiring from that in September of 2019 to concentrate on my family, my photography, and having fun.
I lost my wife of many years in 2016 to Multiple System Atrophy, an uncommon and very aggressive form of Parkinson’s Disease. Watching helplessly as the love of my life slowly and painfully wasted away was horrible, and I went into a deep depression after she passed away. After a year or so, an old friend from the gallery I’m in called me about gallery business and, from that, a relationship began to develop that brought me out of my depression and showed me life still existed. Since then, I’ve began shooting again and enjoying life, so much so that she and I got married in November of 2018. With her help (she’s an artist too), we’re looking at going into more art shows and other sales venues. Life is fun again!
I owe a BIG thank you to Jim & Donna for their original vision, and to David for bringing us a new vision and version. THANK YOU!!
That’s so cool, welcome back! Really sorry to hear about your wife but I am glad that you’re doing better now. Going outside and doing something creative can be very restorative; it’s an amazing thing. Here’s to keeping life fun!
Howdy fellow Photogs! I’m Michael Torkildsen. My mom had an One-Hour mini lab when I was a kid. I had access to free film and developing all through jr high and high school. Every year I was giving a new camera for christmas. I took many crappy shots. I ache now at the missed opportunity I had!
Fast forward 20 years when I was showing my mom my recent (crappy) travel photos when she said, “your composition is sh!t!” I thought, “I’ll show you! Wait, what’s composition?” That’s the moment I got serious about photography and did a deep dive into the subject of composition. Guess what? It shows!
I live in the PNW where you can’t swing a deap tripod without hitting a dozen other photographers.
I left the corporate world in 2018 to concentrate on photography full time. My plan is to move into an RV in early 2019. It’s exciting to see several other full time photogs in the group that also do this! I hope to build a close network of passion people from the group and visit you for grand photography adventures!
I don’t see too many photographers from Europe here so far, so let’s change it. I am based closed to Prague, a capital of the Czech Republic. A beauty of my country motivated me to buy my first DSLR back in 2005 and get seriously into photography. Within first a few years I gained a lot of knowledge by following discussion on original NPN, so I am more than happy that there is a good chance to build a similar community again.
Recent years, being fed up with instagram copy paste & ego boosting culture that is forming the entire industry, I put most of my effort in exploring new locations which are unknown for landscape photographers. You won’t see me on places like Canada, Patagonia, Faroe Islands or Iceland anymore. The most recent trips lead me to remoted Russian mountains and Himalayas. In the near future I plan to visit also Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Peru and some hidden, hardly accessible places in Scandinavia.
When it comes to social media, I almost disappeared after 500px passed away some years ago. However, from time to time I still put something on Instagram and mostly my website.
Big thanks to everyone who contributed to bring the idea of NPN back to live!
Nice to see you here Jaroslav. I’ve often thought that the best way to do travel photography would be to map all the places listed in the photo magazines, then go elsewhere. It sounds like you’re practicing that philosophy.
I took a black and white darkroom photography class in college in 1970 and began dabbling in photography then. My wife and I moved to Bishop, CA, in 1980 where we stayed for four years before moving back to San Francisco. I worked as an anesthesiologist at Northern Inyo Hospital. I built a darkroom in our garage and started photographing the Eastern Sierra. Then we had children, and I put my camera in a closet where it stayed until entry level digital cameras had three or four megapixels. That’s when I started photography again. My son and I backpacked the eastern Sierra for 15 years every summer, and the last ten years I have returned there almost every year for autumn photography. Besides the Sierra, I return often to Utah (where I was born and raised): Zion, Moab area, and Monument Valley, as well as the San Juans in Colorado. For years I was excited to go to new places to find those fabulous vistas in great light with perfect clouds, but the last few years I have been quite content to go back to the same places that I know well. Like many others, I also have more and more gravitated towards intimate scenes, but of course, who can turn down a fabulous vista? I’m also a bit of a Photoshop geek and can happily spend hours in front of a screen playing with my photos. Having cut my teeth on darkroom photography, I never cease to be amazed and grateful for Photoshop! I was a member of the old NPN and was sad to see it die, and am thrilled at be part of this new incarnation. Good job movers and shakers!
Hi Bill: Former Northern OC and NPN contributor, Ed Williams. Two words for you. Bolsa Chica. OK, two more words, nature preserve, not necessarily state beach. Good luck with your photography. I’ve recently moved to Port Hueneme in Ventura County.
Greetings from far northern California (Shasta County). I am brand new to NPN, coming here after seeing a post by @Guy_Tal for his recent article here. I’ve been learning photography since 2011, starting with the absolute basics of how to operate a camera. Fortunately, I fell in with a few folks (on-line and IRL) that preach vision and thoughtfulness, over gear and technicalities, which has made me a better photographer than I otherwise would be.
Getting close to retirement, but still working as a hydrogeologist. All my life, I’ve loved being outside, studying the world. Photographically, I generally enjoy the small landscapes rather than the grand. All types of subjects interest me, both “unsullied” nature and man-made environments (but without people).
I don’t have a web page or a serious photo page. I had a flickr account, but never got into it and haven’t posted anything there in years. I participate in a few FB photo groups that are well behaved, and offer relatively good critiques, but they aren’t nature/landscape based. I am in this year’s Seeing in Sixes book, which was quite exciting for me.
Getting constructive critique on photography is quite valuable to me, both on my photos and reading critiques of others. Hoping I can contribute something worthwhile to NPN.
I’m a Govind, a mechanical engineer based in Salt Lake City, Utah. I design medical equipment for a living and photograph whenever I find the time to spare. I have been interested in birding even as a kid, but it was only when I came across NPN about 10 years back I realized that bird photography was an art by itself and became interested in it. I bought my first camera (Canon EOS Rebel G) in the late 1990s when I graduated, but did not take up photography seriously until I joined NPN. I find photography is a great way for me to learn about my subjects, and one of my main motivations to go out and shoot more.
NPN has my primary source of inspiration and learning, and I remember being completely awed by some of the images I saw in the beginning (continues to this day). Thanks to @Jim_Erhardt and @Donna_Erhardt for setting up the original site, and @David_Kingham and @Jennifer_Renwick for the newer version.
I set up my own website a few years back when some of my friends wanted to see my photographs (I am not very active on social media, so this is my only outlet to share my pics with others).
Outside photography and work, I volunteer with an organization that works in social development in India in different areas, mostly in environmental awareness and sustainable farming through projects and developing educational materials.
Do drop me a line if you are in this area and looking for a fellow photographer to shoot with.
