I have been a professional photographer for almost 25 years. I specialize in wildlife, nature, and landscapes. My company's motto is "creating timeless memories." The beauty of my photos will inspire them to be family heirlooms that are passed down for generations. Photography fact: A lens has to "breathe" to zoom in or zoom out, to focus, and to take a picture. This is an actual process of inhal
ing and exhaling. Lenses have to breathe due to lens elements constantly moving inside them when focus is adjusted and/or when zooming takes place. A great photographer uses his camera to breathe life into a photo which later hangs on a wall and gives its "voice" to the space. Its offspring, a photo, is a living being with a presence all its own. I love the patience of wildlife photography. One has to place himself where the wildlife is most likely to be and wait. Then setup the camera based on the lighting (which is ever-changing), focal length, shutter speed, and aperture. I know in many instances I will have only one chance and only one click of the shutter to get the shot. Often I have to go back many times to even get one picture of the animal. So many of them are solitary and reclusive. I also enjoy the "luck" associated with wildlife photography. Often it is being in the right place at the right time. Some of my photos a person could spend a lifetime trying to take and never get. For example, my tiger photo, underwater photos of jellyfish and shark, and the wild horses at Black Canyon Lake. When these shots happen, I feel a blessing come over me that I was invited into the animal's "home". Nature photography focuses on small animals, trees, and flowers. For these subjects is use a Nikon 85mm prime lens, a.k.a., fixed focal length lens. The Nikon 85mm lens is the finest portrait lens made by any manufacturer for any camera. I have found it excellent for photographing small subjects. For example, check out my two bees photographs. Landscapes speak to us. I can feel, I can even hear God's spoken word coming to me through the spectacular beauty of landscapes. When I photograph a landscape, my goal is to capture what it is saying that day, at that moment. When individuals hang one of my photos in their home or place of business, they can "hear" the landscape speaking to them. I call my style "color explosion." I shoot with lens filters and settings that will make the colors explode off the photograph. My developing process seeks to emphasize the dominant colors and draw the eye to them. I do not, ever, Photoshop my photos. I utilize Adobe Lightroom to develop my photos into the finished product. It is the gold standard in photography developing software. I print on a variety of mediums, i.e., paper, canvas, glass, and metal. I offer picture sizes of 8x10, 11x14, 13x19, and as large as a customer prefers. I do most of my own printing, matting, and framing. I began my career in 1997 using Canon and, of course, developing on film. That was a time when a photographer did not know if he got the perfect shot until he got home and developed the film. By the time of developing, the subject (wildlife, nature, or landscape) could be 100's of miles away. When photography went digital I switched to Sony. I learned over time that the brand of camera is more important than the model; and the lens used is the most important piece of equipment. So, I wanted to move to a camera with the best lenses in the world. That is what led me to Nikon. Nikon is known for producing some of the best prime lenses in the world. (Prime=fixed focal length.) Currently I use the following lenses:
Nikon 35mm 1:1.8G One of the best landscape photography lenses available for any camera. Nikon 85mm 1:1.8G. Considered the best close-up, small objects lens in all of photography. Nikon 70-300mm 4.5-5.6G. Excellent long focal length for distance photography. Many of my photos were collected over the decade I was an avid motorcyclist and rode my Honda Goldwing across the United States and Canada. National Parks are a favorite subject of mine. Visit that tab for photographs of our nation's most spectacular National Parks. John Francis Photos backs its products with a 100% satisfaction guaranteed, no questions asked, policy. If you are not completely satisfied with your photo purchased, for any reason, we will fix it or fully refund your money upon return of the photo.
