Hello from SW suburbs of Chicago, USA

[JPDenk]

Just a quick intro, my name is John, and I live in the southwest suburbs of Chicago, IL, USA.

I've been an avid amateur nature photographer since the mid-1970's, have done volunteer work in prairie restoration off-and-on since then. In the last few years, since I changed to digital capture, I've had quite a few nature photos published in local publications. While I am interested in all natural history subjects, I tend to focus mainly on wildflowers and mushrooms. If you'd care to see some of my favorite photos from the past year, check out my album at http://picasaweb.google.com/jpdenk60...eShotsFrom2006

I started out in digital photography in 1999 when I bought a Kodak DC260, which I used for several years, upgraded to a Nikon D70 in 2004. I also use a Panasonic FZ5 when the SLR and a heavy bag of accessories are inconvenient, but when I want the best image quality, the D70 is my choice to bring along.

OK, enough for now. I look forward to being a member of this group, looks very interesting.

John

[Harry]

Re: Hello from SW suburbs of Chicago, USA

Cracking photographs in your album, are those exotic frogs in your area or did you have to travel far to photo them?

I suppose the snakes eat the frogs?

A warm welcome from me to you and I hope you post some images soon as they are really good. Try the wildlife thread.

Slainthe

[Ian]

Re: Hello from SW suburbs of Chicago, USA

Just a quick intro, my name is John, and I live in the southwest suburbs of Chicago, IL, USA.

I've been an avid amateur nature photographer since the mid-1970's, have done volunteer work in prairie restoration off-and-on since then. In the last few years, since I changed to digital capture, I've had quite a few nature photos published in local publications. While I am interested in all natural history subjects, I tend to focus mainly on wildflowers and mushrooms. If you'd care to see some of my favorite photos from the past year, check out my album at http://picasaweb.google.com/jpdenk60...eShotsFrom2006

I started out in digital photography in 1999 when I bought a Kodak DC260, which I used for several years, upgraded to a Nikon D70 in 2004. I also use a Panasonic FZ5 when the SLR and a heavy bag of accessories are inconvenient, but when I want the best image quality, the D70 is my choice to bring along.

OK, enough for now. I look forward to being a member of this group, looks very interesting.

John

Hi there John! You're most welcome here

It's been too long since I last went to the Windy City - I used to go there once a year or so to attend conferences, back during the early-mid 90s. We used to have friends living in Naperville; lovely neighbourhood. They're now out in Kansas.

What type of photography are you interested in? As usual, we're looking forward to seeing some of your photography on here. We encourage members to post pictures in the forum, but feel free to use the photo gallery too.

Ian

[JPDenk]

Re: Hello from SW suburbs of Chicago, USA

Cracking photographs in your album, are those exotic frogs in your area or did you have to travel far to photo them?

I suppose the snakes eat the frogs?

A warm welcome from me to you and I hope you post some images soon as they are really good. Try the wildlife thread.

Slainthe

Hello Harry,

Thanks, glad that you liked the photos. The frogs were in an exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, so that was a bit of a cheat, akin to shooting the proverbial fish in a barrel.

The snake is a local species that is quite uncommon, and its primary food is freshly-molted soft-shell crayfish, so it needs a nice, clean body of water with lots of crayfish, a combination that is increasingly difficult to find around here in this overly-developed metro area.

John

[JPDenk]

Re: Hello from SW suburbs of Chicago, USA

Hi there John! You're most welcome here

It's been too long since I last went to the Windy City - I used to go there once a year or so to attend conferences, back during the early-mid 90s. We used to have friends living in Naperville; lovely neighbourhood. They're now out in Kansas.

What type of photography are you interested in? As usual, we're looking forward to seeing some of your photography on here. We encourage members to post pictures in the forum, but feel free to use the photo gallery too.

Ian

Hello Ian,

Thanks for the welcome! Yes, Naperville is a pleasant town, I'm a bit to the southeast of that, perhaps a 45 minute drive, on a good day.

I primarily take nature photos, although I've recently set up a small portrait studio in my home, and hope to learn that more, but I'm just starting.

I enjoy taking shots of the family too, especially my 3 grandchildren, but they're all living out-of-state now, closest members are a 6-hour drive away, so I don't get to see them as often as I'd like.

I hope to be a participant here in the future.

Thanks again,
John

[Ian]

Re: Hello from SW suburbs of Chicago, USA

Hello Harry,

Thanks, glad that you liked the photos. The frogs were in an exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, so that was a bit of a cheat, akin to shooting the proverbial fish in a barrel.

The snake is a local species that is quite uncommon, and its primary food is freshly-molted soft-shell crayfish, so it needs a nice, clean body of water with lots of crayfish, a combination that is increasingly difficult to find around here in this overly-developed metro area.

John

Maybe it will be at home here! American (signal?) crayfish, that are bigger and more aggressive than the native UK species, are now pretty common here (accidentally introduced some time ago). We are able to catch several in the local Grand Union Canal simply by dropping some string into the water with something like bacon or ham on the end as a lure - they hang on to the bait, right into the bucket! I wouldn't say our canal is particularly clean - but it may not be too badly polluted either. I wouldn't eat a crayfish caught locally though

Ian