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My Photography Experience and General Information I am originally from Chariton, a small farming community in Southern Iowa, where I met my wife, Sheryl. I am an optometrist by profession; after graduation from optometry school Sheryl and I moved to Fergus Falls where I established my practice. I am fortunate to have two capable partners who can hold down the fort while I prusue my photography passion.  I became interested in photography during my first year in practice, while working for a contact lens practice in Chicago. One of my co-optometrists did quite a bit of photography and listening to his enthusiasm and looking at his photos I quickly became hooked. Tools of the Trade My first camera was a Canon and I have been with Canon ever since, making the transition from film to digital photography. In the early days I was shooting slide film, which meant I had a lot a bad exposures but forced me to learn correct exposure (I'm still learning). I have one 120mm Mamiya with a standard (80mm) and telephoto lens. I made the transition to digital in 2005 and now most of my work is in this new format. I still carry my Canon Elan and the Mamiya for slides. Most of my shooting is with a Canon 20D. I have the 17-85mm lens and use it for most of my shooting. I also have a 100-300 lens from the Elan that I combine with close-up rings for much of my closeup shooting. Nature and a Love of Travel I enjoy virtually all aspects of outdoor photography: landscape, waterscape, wildlife and macro. Sheryl & I often camp in Minnesota, particularly the North Shore of Lake Superior which provides landscapes and watescapes---and in June lots of wildflowers! You see both Minnesota photos and wildflower photos in my online albums. Minnesota has a unique geography in that we have Northern coniferous forests, Northern hardwood forests and prairie. Fergus Falls is literally on the transition zone from hardwood to prairie. Sheryl & I live on approximately 4 acres, half of which I am re-establishing into native prairie. We have both woodland and prairie flowers which become subjects for much of my macro work. Sheryl & I recently started the RV life, buying a 5th wheel in 2006. We plan on taking a little more time off, taking a break from the Minnesota winter as well as seeing more of the US and Canada. iDocs Photo Tours from a hobby to a part-time business While Sheryl tolerates all my photography pursuits, my friend, Gary Renier, and I are true photo friends. We have taken a photo trip nearly every year for the past 15 years, recently turning it into a small business to help others discover photography in our beautiful national parks. We particularly like Utah, with the Esclante area a highlight. The slot canyons, the hoo-doos, the arches and the general scenery are great! You can learn more about this area at iDocs Photo Tours; we sell CD field guides for this and several other areas. You can also see more of my photos from these trips at my photo site on Shutterfly. Thanks for visiting my site. Good shooting! Fog Out of Homer, Alaska |
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