John's Nature Photography

Growing up in the mountains of southern West Virginia, it is only natural (pardon the pun) that one of my largest areas of focus (again, many pardons) of my photography is that of Nature.

Today, my interest in capturing the essence of Nature herself in a photograph continues as strongly as ever; I specifically purchased a long telephoto lens for my Digital Rebel XT intended for use on hikes and in photographing the world around me.

Red-Shouldered Hawk January 7, 2006 Off US 29 near Amherst, VA Equipment: Canon Digital Rebel XT EF 75-300mm USM Lens (at 300mm) f7.1 @ 1/400 sec. - ISO 400 Beth and I like to "hawk-eye" on long road trips, watching for hawks in the trees and skies around our route. I spotted this one just off of US 29 and got to put my new camera equipment to the test. Though the photo is a little soft (blame the lens, or my lack of funds for an L-series piece of glass), it's quite a nice shot I think.

Multiflora Rose January 1, 2006 Mountains in Mullens, WV Equipment: Canon Digital Rebel XT EF 18-55mm Lens (at 48mm) f11 @ 1/200 sec. - ISO 400 Processed to Greyscale in Photoshop I took this close-up photo of a greenbriar or multiflora rose vine while hiking in the woods behind my parent's house in West Virginia. As most of my previous nature photography is of landscape proportions, I wanted to experiment with an extreme close-up for a change of pace.