About Me

We sometimes like to think that we control our environment, but lately I have begun to think that it is the environment that controls me. I have become an avid naturist with a respect for all living creatures and with my Dad having died just over a year ago, my driving force has expanded beyond the need to find subjects that could be of interest to him. He was always such an avid lover of nature, so I think he would be proud of how I am choosing to carry the banner forward.

I am very much an early morning person, having no trouble getting out of bed. So my work is riddled with sunrises, early morning dramas, and over-night decorations. It features very few sunsets and little night-life. In my mind, there is a freshness in the start of each day, where the opportunity of the day is all ahead of me. I love to hear the waking sounds of birds as the sky begins to brighten. And to experience the rush of creatures looking to start each day with a breakfast which oftentimes includes other creatures that had no intention of beginning the new day in this way.

A native of Limerick, Ireland, I have lived in the greater Tampa Bay Area for about 15 years. Perhaps because I was not brought up in such a tropical natural environment, I am generally wide-eyed in my travels around the area. I have the enviable pleasure of discovering plants or wildlife that I have hitherto had no exposure to. It is a huge infusion of excitement to what has now become my greatest passion.

The images throughout this site are all unedited and it is an essential part of my credo that there is no need to improve on what mother nature has created. There is one image in the Natural Life folio where I have added multiple shots of a single bird in order to show his flight path as he swooped in near me. But ither than that, the moments captured here are exactly as my camera saw them. I leave photoshop and other image manipulation software for other applications.

My Approach

I don't normally set up in position like many avid nature photographers.

I prefer to wander slowly down a trail or a boardwalk, camera in hand like an infantryman on patrol. I am routinely passed by, even by little old ladies in zimmer frames. But I am not in a race and so I don't mind.

I study reflections. And I examine shadows, and strange lights.

It isn't all about creatures and scenery ... sometimes it can be the way you look at something, rather than the thing itself. That is one of what I would consider my strengths. It's my eye. Less skill and more eye, could possibly be my motto!

I make every effort to remain passive in my shoots

I go out of my way to try not to break a web or step on a plant or flash on a creature. If I can shoot things without having disturbed them in any way, then I have reached my objective.

My Equipment

Since I picked up my first digital camera, I have always been a huge fan of Sony.

And in particular, their Alpha range of cameras. The current models that I use are a Sony Alpha 7iii and a Sony Alpha 77ii with an assortment of lenses. They both shoot in 24 Megapixel and on rapid fire can get 10 or 12 high-resolution shots per second. Sony has moved the controls around in different places between the two models and for someone like me, that is rather annoying. But other than that, I am really thrilled with them.

I almost never use a tripod. I prefer the challenge of a hand-held shot. And yes, I understand that there are moments when I don't get the shot or at least don't get it crisply. Which is one of the reasons that generally speaking, the largest lens I use is a 600mm zoom. And I really enjoy the opposite end of the spectrum with an 11 mm lens that gives a wonderful fish-eye effect for scenery shots.