One of
the things I’ve always enjoyed about photography is
the ability to ‘freeze in time’ a little window of
something beautiful and interesting. When I bought
my first camera, the first subjects I started
shooting were insects, spiders and plants. Then
came the birds and heavy telephoto lenses. Few
summers went photographing birds from hide, but I
wasn’t very keen on that. Instead of crouching in a
small hide for hours or days, I rather grab my
camera and walk around and photograph what comes in
front of me. Although I enjoy photographing all of
mother natures fascinating subjects - night sky,
atmospheric phenomenons and close-ups are the ones
I prefer most.
To me nature photography is an all the year round activity. The four seasons are all unique and offer an endless array of subjects to photograph. Autumn with cool, crisp days and coloring leaves, and spring with migratory birds are my favorite seasons. Both of them are also busy time for me, because so much happens in nature in such a short period. So I try to spend time outdoors as much as possible.
About equipment
For low light and night sky photography my main tool is Nikon D3 with 12-24mm f4, 35mm f2 and 50mm f1,4 lenses. For years I had hoped a good low-light camera and when D3 came to market, I bought it instantly. And what a camera it is! It is formidable image making machine and capable of producing stunning image quality at high ISOs. To me it literally opened up the night sky.
For close-ups and macro work I use mainly 60mm f2.8 AF-S and 105mm f2.8 AF-S Micro Nikkors. If I need extra light I have Nikon Close-up Speedlight Commander Kit R1C1 and Nikon SB-800 flash units.
Allthough I use wide variety of lenses from 12mm to 800mm, 105mm VR (with D3) is my bread-and-butter lens as a professional photographer. That’s my main lens for photographing people, pets, plants and everyday life.
I normally photograph from a tripod. My standard tripod is Manfrotto 055 with 488RC4 ball head. I have used it for years in all kinds of conditions and it has served me well. For big lenses and especially for night sky photography I grab my Manfrotto 161MK2b with 490RC4 maxi ball head. The combination is heavy as hell and you don’t want to carry it long distances. But when taking time exposures it is crucially important that the camera/tripod combination don’t flutter in the wind. And this don't!
To me nature photography is an all the year round activity. The four seasons are all unique and offer an endless array of subjects to photograph. Autumn with cool, crisp days and coloring leaves, and spring with migratory birds are my favorite seasons. Both of them are also busy time for me, because so much happens in nature in such a short period. So I try to spend time outdoors as much as possible.
About equipment
For low light and night sky photography my main tool is Nikon D3 with 12-24mm f4, 35mm f2 and 50mm f1,4 lenses. For years I had hoped a good low-light camera and when D3 came to market, I bought it instantly. And what a camera it is! It is formidable image making machine and capable of producing stunning image quality at high ISOs. To me it literally opened up the night sky.
For close-ups and macro work I use mainly 60mm f2.8 AF-S and 105mm f2.8 AF-S Micro Nikkors. If I need extra light I have Nikon Close-up Speedlight Commander Kit R1C1 and Nikon SB-800 flash units.
Allthough I use wide variety of lenses from 12mm to 800mm, 105mm VR (with D3) is my bread-and-butter lens as a professional photographer. That’s my main lens for photographing people, pets, plants and everyday life.
I normally photograph from a tripod. My standard tripod is Manfrotto 055 with 488RC4 ball head. I have used it for years in all kinds of conditions and it has served me well. For big lenses and especially for night sky photography I grab my Manfrotto 161MK2b with 490RC4 maxi ball head. The combination is heavy as hell and you don’t want to carry it long distances. But when taking time exposures it is crucially important that the camera/tripod combination don’t flutter in the wind. And this don't!
