My nephew, the wildlife photographer

yeah yeah yeah, I've been busy! LOL!!! Oh Reyn. Calvin's not a Husky, he's Border Collie/Golden Retriever crossed with a Bouvier. By far the best bear dog I've ever worked with. Unless I tell him we need to draw a line in the sand or make it go away, Calvin is just as accepted by the wildlife as I am.

I'm chuckling, but I also have to point out that the most famous sasquatch sighting in the West Kootenays happened 50 years ago, about 14 km into the bush directly behind my home. 6 Mile Lakes is a chain of lakes, oddly enough, 6 miles from the head of the FSR. The last lake in that chain is called Sasquatch Lake for a reason!

Thank you very much! You should've seen how charmed I was witnessing that from about 12 feet away.

Hi Reyn's nephew! And welcome!

Thanks Mike for coming over and answering some questions for others here. It's much appreciated.

I'll be looking forward to your new photos as and when you put them on your page!

I could tell by your work that there were many years that you've put in. Over the last 40 yrs I've been either a serious advanced amateur or professional. Wildlife is a whole other passion about which I deeply appreciate. When someone is good, like yourself, it shows by their work. You have learned how to master composition and edit out distracting backgrounds and master the issues like narrow depth of field.

I like shooting medium-sized wildlife. But much of that choice is due to my equip't limitations as I have no long lens that has a max aperture of greater than f2.8. My longest lens is a manual 400mm but it has an f4.5. My AF 80-200 is f2.8 - not at it's best for subjects like small birds. But I digress. Equip't is not the issue. Your editing is a skill that should be commended. It has greatly improved, as shown by the variety and quality of the images you showed here.

Thanks Soz, and Ragman! I'm sure he will appreciate your comments.

I just received an email from Mike and he's told me that he entered his first enlargement in the West Kootenay Camera Club's annual show last weekend.

There were 350+ entries and amongst the attendees were were 3 judges from the Canadian Association for Photographic Art. Mike received a blue ribbon for his photo!

The entries were mainly from within British Columbia, but there were some from further away. It's a is a recognized event with accredited judges.

So, all-in-all, some good exposure indeed, and a nice win!

Hello to all!

Mike just got some of his grizzly bear photos published in a local newspaper. Thanks to my sister for providing the link.

http://thenelsonpost.ca/2011/05/27/reader-asks-people-to-respect-the-grizzlies/

Not only is the write-up very informative, but the extra exposure to his work sure doesn't hurt!

Well done, Mike!

Ok, way to go, Mike!

Love those photos, especially the looking at sibling one. Terrific texture, especially in the branch chew photo.

Thanks for your interest, Osso!

I haven't looked at all the photos on your first link yet, plan to.