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About the Images
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The images on this site are about natural history - they are images of native plants and animals in their natural habitat. I strive to be a naturalist first, and a photographer second, and firmly believe that you make yourself a better nature photographer by becoming a better naturalist. I don't gain any satisfaction from taking photographs of captive animals or "exotic" species, so you won't find those kinds of images in my galleries. Because I still have much to learn as a naturalist, I often agonize over the identification of the subjects in my images. If I am unsure of an identification, an otherwise-excellent image probably won't make it into my galleries. |
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| Although I shoot digital images, the only "digital manipulations" that I make are to things like the color balance, contrast, and sharpening in order to correct for changes that occur in digital capture and conversion. I never add or remove physical elements from the images. I also try to minimize my use of flash and rely on available light if at all possible. To the best of my ability, the images you see in my galleries are as I saw them when I released the shutter. | |
About the Equipment
| I hesitate to discuss photo gear since it seems that photographers spend too much time obsessing over equipment and not enough time in the field capturing images, improving technical and creative skills, and becoming better naturalists. Nevertheless, many of the questions I get when I am in the field have to do with my equipment, so here goes. I shoot primarily with Nikon bodies and lenses. Until approximately October of 2001, I shot fine-grained slide film (primarily Fuji Provia 100F for wildlife and Fuji Velvia for landscapes). Since that time, I have joined the "digital revolution", and have been shooting almost exclusively digital using a Nikon D1X digital SLR camera. The following links provide additional details about the equipment and techniques that I use: |
- Film Equipment
- Digital Equipment (under construction, please check back)
- Digital Workflow (under construction, please check back)
About the Photographer
 Scott and Claudia with Chinstrap Penguins at Pt. Wild on Elephant Island. Photo by Les Lieurance. |
I have been taking photographs for as long as I can remember, and seriously considered a career in photojournalism before I got side-tracked with environmental analytical chemistry. These days, when I'm not being a small-business owner/analytical chemist/programmer (see www.diabloanalytical.com), and my wife Claudia is not being a community college instructor (see www.dvc.edu), we can usually be found running around Northern California and the Western U.S. "naturizing" with friends. Although we are "birders", we are also naturalists and pay attention to all wild things - reptiles, amphibians, mammals, flowers, dragonflies, butterflies, etc. |
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I originally created this web site as a way to share the images from these trips with my friends, family, and anyone else who might be interested. However, as I have become more involved with local land conservation issues through Save Mount Diablo, this web site has also become a vehicle for me to express the beauty and importance of the threatened landscapes and wildlife where we live. |
 Photo by Seth Adams |
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Please contact me at scott@heinphoto.com if you would like to give me feedback on this web site, would like more information about any of the photographs, or would like to use any of the photographs commercially. |
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-Scott Hein