East Texas Naturalist Blog

You can take good pictures with just about any decent camera but having nice equipment makes the process easier, adds more options, and generally produces better results.

I started off with a fixed lens Petri 35mm film camera, then later moved to a Asahi (Pentax) Spotmatic.  With both of those I was able to take nice pictures of people and scenic landscapes.  I tried very little real nature photography.  Neither camera was really suited to any kind of closeup work.  I added a 300mm lens which helped with some types of nature shots.  But it wasn't until many years later when circumstances changed and I was able to afford much better equipment and accessories.  My interest in photography and the results of my efforts made a major leap forward. 

Then after I got busy with so many other things (work), I slowly got rid of all that equipment.  

I recently bought a macro ring flash for my cameras.  Naturally I have been playing with it.

I just wanted to share this picture that I took with it.  

As should be apparent from this blog, I love taking pictures.  I always have.  At times I have gotten rather serious about it.  At one time I had a color darkroom and owned nearly a dozen nice cameras (mostly Nikons), lots of lenses and a mound of filters, flashes, battery drives, tripods, light meters, light umbrellas, etc.  

I am self-taught. Everything I know about photography I learned through trial and error while devouring book after book.  I have never had a photography class (although I have taught a few).  

At one point, I was very serious about photography, especially nature photography. I took hundreds and hundreds of pictures; reviewed my images critically; and used that self-criticism to get better.  

Unless credited otherwise, all photographic images on this website were taken by me.  (EDITOR'S NOTE: This was true until the summer of 2015 when others began joining me.  Photos are all from the galleries of featured photographers on this website unless otherwise noted.)

I began taking photos in a semi-serious fashion when I was in the army.  I bought my first 35mm camera at the PX in Frankfort Germany in 1967.  It was an Petri.  About a year later I purchased an Asahi (Pentax) Spotmatic.  I took LOTS of pictures.

Later, when I returned to school, I started taking a lot of photographs of nature, especially on field trips.  I took lots of photos and slides.