PHOTO WORKSHOPS:

I don't currently offer my own workshops, but still partake in traveling photo tours, but here are a few suggestions if you are looking to do a few of your own:

• My first workshop that truly expanded my abilites was with Karen Schulman of Focus Adventures. She taught me a great deal, from better understanding of aperture to expanding my vision and creativity, her specialty. Before the workshop I hadn't photographed flowers or other closeup subjects, and if you look in my galleries, you'll see that they've become one of my favorite subjects. Thank you, Karen for everything :)

• Another favorite photo tour was with Dale Franz of Franz Foto Tours. We were able to explore Yellowstone National Park in both Spring and Winter and got a wide variety of great photos from cute little black bears romping, to wolves devouring a fresh kill, to amazing geysers and hot springs. He was a great guide and was very knowledgeable.

• Our latest photo tour was with Brent R Paul of American West Photography. We hired him for a 1 day private photo outing in California to get acclimated to the area. He had great rates and was a great choice for a quick 1 day excursion - very knowledgeable as well.

PHOTO GEAR:

I shoot Nikon Gear and my current camera and lens of choice is the Nikon D7000 with the 18-200 VR lens. While there are faster and better quality lenses available this is truly the most versatile lens for quick, split second "grab shots". I also have a Nikon D90, Nikon D300 and a N90s though they only get used as secondary bodies. Lenses vary widely and include a Tokina 11-16mm ultra wide, 80-200 2.8, and a 50mm macro in addition to a variety of filters and add-ons.

I often get asked "what should i buy?" and it truly is a great question. I love to refer folks to my favorite refernce sites: kenrockwell.com, dpreview.com. Really it doesn't matter if you go with Nikon, Canon, Pentax or anything else.. it's truly learning how to use what you have and then taking that extra step, kneeling down, crawling on the ground, or getting up high to get a different angle or perspective to start getting something a bit more out of the box. Start out in auto mode and slowly learn what changes your images - from aperture, to shutter speed, to ISO.. experiment and start taking a closer look around and you'll start to capture better images :)