I am a native of Brazil, residing in California for about 18 years now. While I have always enjoyed photography, it was only about 9 years ago that I started shooting mostly birds. Driving south along Pacific Coast Highway one Sunday, I found Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, and was amazed by the variety of bird species flying around or just wading within feet of the bridge where I stood. Since that day I have spent a great deal of my free time trying to capture these fantastic creatures on film. I have not tried to sell my images, but felt like creating a website where I could share them with people who enjoy birds as much as I do. You won't find anything offered up for sale here,  
but if you find an image you'd like to use for a particular project, email me and we can discuss the details.
The images in the galleries have all been made in California, from Klamath NWR to the Salton Sea and a few places in between, with the vast majority having been made in Southern California.
Most of the images were made with Canon digital SLR cameras, with the remainder having been shot on Fuji transparency film and then scanned. Most of the images are full frame, with levels
and saturation adjustments made to improve viewing on different browser/monitor combinations. Images that have been cropped are clearly marked with either the word "crop" or the letter "x."
There are no wildly retouched images here!
No branches removed, no catchlights added, no undisclosed cropping. What you see is what I shot, a RAW file that was improved slightly to resemble a nice Fuji slide film. These files are naturally flat and lifeless right out of the camera, always requiring sharpness, contrast, and saturation adjustments to be comparable with film. I understand the allure of Photoshop, to radically transform a mediocre image into a sellable one, but I choose to remain true to myself
and be honest about my photography.

     Thank you very much for taking the time to visit!

 
 
 For those interested in photographic equipment, here's my current set-up:

 Canon bodies:
-EOS 1D MkIIn (digital)
-EOS 7D (digital)
-EOS Elan 7N (film)
Canon Lenses:
-EF 500mm f4L IS with matching 1.4x and 2x teleconverters
-EF 300mm f2.8L
-EF 70-200mm f2.8L
-EF 24-85mm f3.5-4.5
-EF-17-40mm f4L
-580EX II and 550EX Speedlites; home-made flash extender; Wimberley flash bracket; Canon CP-E4 battery pack, and Canon OC-E3 off-camera shoe cord.
-GITZO 1325 CF tripod with leveling base; Arca-Swiss B1 ballhead, Wimberley Sidekick.

   I have pretty much retired my tripod in favor of a GITZO GM5540 carbon fiber monopod that I use with a Wimberley Sidekick.  It's a wonderful combination that allows for a great deal more freedom when photographing birds in flight. My friend Leon at SocalAstro machined a beautiful piece of aluminum (photo 1 ,photo2) that was needed to make the Sidekick work on the monopod. With this set-up, the monopod does the panning, and the Sidekick does the tilting. The lens feels "weightless" once it's properly balanced.