Although at one time I was deeply into photography as a hobby (had Zone IV and Sinar 4x5 view cameras, my own 4x5 darkroom, read everything Ansel and Fred Picker wrote), I was away from photography as a hobby for quite a few years, owning a series of point & shoot digitals that I mostly just made snapshots with. A couple years ago I decided I wanted a DSLR, so I bought a Nikon D80 with the 18-135 kit lens. I added several more lenses, bags, Gitzo tripod, etc., and started trying to be serious about photography again. In mid-2007 I became discouraged with my efforts at photography and sold all my Nikon gear. Bought a Canon G9 to use for snapshots. In late July 2008 I bought a Canon EOS 40D, some lenses, and a tripod, gonna give it another go! I don't have any aspirations to become an artist or a pro, but I enjoy doing the best I can with my photography efforts. I make photographs primarily to please myself. I can be reached via email at michaelnel@comcast.net http://michaelnel.smugmug.com/Landscapes/Eastern-Sierra-Fall-Color/meondam800/387967976_Av7rv-Ti.jpg http://michaelnel.smugmug.com/Animals/ 2009-11-30T22:22:51Z Copyright 2009, the copyright holder of each photograph. Some portions copyright SmugMug. All rights reserved. SmugMug <p><a href="http://michaelnel.smugmug.com">Michael Nelson (michaelnel)</a><br />Sumatran Tiger. I think these are the most beautiful animals in the world.</p><p><a href="http://michaelnel.smugmug.com/Animals/San-Francisco-Zoo/2737583_cCFxN#145361131_WVwnx" title="Sumatran Tiger. I think these are the most beautiful animals in the world."><img src="http://michaelnel.smugmug.com/Animals/San-Francisco-Zoo/bengal1/145361131_WVwnx-Th.jpg" width="150" height="101" alt="Sumatran Tiger. I think these are the most beautiful animals in the world." title="Sumatran Tiger. I think these are the most beautiful animals in the world." style="border: 1px solid #000000;" /></a></p> 2009-02-13T03:12:50Z Michael Nelson (michaelnel) http://michaelnel.smugmug.com http://michaelnel.smugmug.com/Animals/San-Francisco-Zoo/bengal1/145361131_WVwnx-Th.jpg 2007-04-20 12:19:34 37.73415344190000 -122.50384569200000 0 <p><a href="http://michaelnel.smugmug.com">Michael Nelson (michaelnel)</a><br />Peacock</p><p><a href="http://michaelnel.smugmug.com/Animals/San-Francisco-Zoo/2737583_cCFxN#145378070_GNBsS" title="Peacock"><img src="http://michaelnel.smugmug.com/Animals/San-Francisco-Zoo/peacockside/145378070_GNBsS-Th.jpg" width="102" height="150" alt="Peacock" title="Peacock" style="border: 1px solid #000000;" /></a></p> 2009-02-13T03:11:48Z Michael Nelson (michaelnel) http://michaelnel.smugmug.com http://michaelnel.smugmug.com/Animals/San-Francisco-Zoo/peacockside/145378070_GNBsS-Th.jpg 2007-04-20 12:57:07 <p><a href="http://michaelnel.smugmug.com">Michael Nelson (michaelnel)</a><br />Preening is a full time job!</p><p><a href="http://michaelnel.smugmug.com/Animals/San-Francisco-Zoo/2737583_cCFxN#145363107_FRCqx" title="Preening is a full time job!"><img src="http://michaelnel.smugmug.com/Animals/San-Francisco-Zoo/flamingo/145363107_FRCqx-Th.jpg" width="150" height="114" alt="Preening is a full time job!" title="Preening is a full time job!" style="border: 1px solid #000000;" /></a></p> 2009-02-13T03:08:55Z Michael Nelson (michaelnel) http://michaelnel.smugmug.com http://michaelnel.smugmug.com/Animals/San-Francisco-Zoo/flamingo/145363107_FRCqx-Th.jpg 2007-04-20 12:03:00 <p><a href="http://michaelnel.smugmug.com">Michael Nelson (michaelnel)</a><br />Whaddaya lookin' at me for? They went thataway!</p><p><a href="http://michaelnel.smugmug.com/Animals/San-Francisco-Zoo/2737583_cCFxN#145361604_YLkHp" title="Whaddaya lookin' at me for? They went thataway!"><img src="http://michaelnel.smugmug.com/Animals/San-Francisco-Zoo/thataway/145361604_YLkHp-Th.jpg" width="131" height="150" alt="Whaddaya lookin' at me for? They went thataway!" title="Whaddaya lookin' at me for? They went thataway!" style="border: 1px solid #000000;" /></a></p> 2009-02-13T03:14:41Z Michael Nelson (michaelnel) http://michaelnel.smugmug.com http://michaelnel.smugmug.com/Animals/San-Francisco-Zoo/thataway/145361604_YLkHp-Th.jpg 2007-04-20 11:48:23 <p><a href="http://michaelnel.smugmug.com">Michael Nelson (michaelnel)</a><br />Another snowy egret. With a bunch of them in these palms, they were very talkative, and they have really funny almost human sounding voices. Not at all what I expected!</p><p><a href="http://michaelnel.smugmug.com/Animals/Palo-Alto-Baylands-Bird/2915204_kshBt#157019114_s24uC" title="Another snowy egret. With a bunch of them in these palms, they were very talkative, and they have really funny almost human sounding voices. Not at all what I expected!"><img src="http://michaelnel.smugmug.com/Animals/Palo-Alto-Baylands-Bird/egret2/157019114_s24uC-Th.jpg" width="119" height="150" alt="Another snowy egret. With a bunch of them in these palms, they were very talkative, and they have really funny almost human sounding voices. Not at all what I expected!" title="Another snowy egret. With a bunch of them in these palms, they were very talkative, and they have really funny almost human sounding voices. Not at all what I expected!" style="border: 1px solid #000000;" /></a></p> 2009-02-12T00:48:29Z Michael Nelson (michaelnel) http://michaelnel.smugmug.com http://michaelnel.smugmug.com/Animals/Palo-Alto-Baylands-Bird/egret2/157019114_s24uC-Th.jpg 2007-05-26 11:12:11 <p><a href="http://michaelnel.smugmug.com">Michael Nelson (michaelnel)</a><br />Snowy egret. There were lots of them in the palm trees, lots of preening.</p><p><a href="http://michaelnel.smugmug.com/Animals/Palo-Alto-Baylands-Bird/2915204_kshBt#157019051_HJmE7" title="Snowy egret. There were lots of them in the palm trees, lots of preening."><img src="http://michaelnel.smugmug.com/Animals/Palo-Alto-Baylands-Bird/egret1/157019051_HJmE7-Th.jpg" width="102" height="150" alt="Snowy egret. There were lots of them in the palm trees, lots of preening." title="Snowy egret. There were lots of them in the palm trees, lots of preening." style="border: 1px solid #000000;" /></a></p> 2009-02-12T00:45:21Z Michael Nelson (michaelnel) http://michaelnel.smugmug.com http://michaelnel.smugmug.com/Animals/Palo-Alto-Baylands-Bird/egret1/157019051_HJmE7-Th.jpg 2007-05-26 10:16:39 <p><a href="http://michaelnel.smugmug.com">Michael Nelson (michaelnel)</a><br />Lazy day...</p><p><a href="http://michaelnel.smugmug.com/Animals/San-Francisco-Zoo/2737583_cCFxN#145378145_fjDyn" title="Lazy day..."><img src="http://michaelnel.smugmug.com/Animals/San-Francisco-Zoo/polarbear/145378145_fjDyn-Th.jpg" width="150" height="110" alt="Lazy day..." title="Lazy day..." style="border: 1px solid #000000;" /></a></p> 2009-02-13T03:14:06Z Michael Nelson (michaelnel) http://michaelnel.smugmug.com http://michaelnel.smugmug.com/Animals/San-Francisco-Zoo/polarbear/145378145_fjDyn-Th.jpg 2007-04-20 12:42:30