Hello, thank you for stopping by to view of one of God’s magnificent wildlife photos. My name is Jerry Lee Lairson and I’m the photographer, photo editor of the photo you are viewing.
At the age of 69 I decided I would start photographing wildlife. In December 2023 with a Canon 70mm-300mm lens on a Canon EOS Rebel T 7 I set out to see what I could capture on camera. I’ve never had a camera like the Rebel so I had to learn all the settings on the camera and the exposure triangle “I didn’t know what that was” in quick time if I was going to get some good photos of the wildlife in the field. I’ve always used a camera that you pick up and snap a photo, never thinking about any of the settings on the camera, the camera did all the thinking. Now I have to think about the settings that are needed for the day. After trying to get photos of eagles and other birds in flight with the Canon 70mm-300mm lens on the EOS Rebel T 7 and not succeeding very well, I went out and bought a Sigma 60mm-600mm Sport Lens (lens weight 6.5 lbs) and put it on the Rebel. And “WOW” what a difference that made in getting some good up close photos of the eagles and other wildlife that are in flight.
After a month taking photos with the Sigma 60mm-600mm on my Rebel I decided to up grade my camera to a Canon EOS R6 Mark II full frame camera. In just three months, I up graded my lens and camera and learned about the exposure triangle to improve my photography. I hand hold the camera and shoot on manual mode 99% of the time now. I’m in charge of the camera now, I’m making all the decisions for the setting on the camera for the day. If I have captured bad photos that day I can only blame myself.
To improve my photography of the wildlife, my side kick “Gracie and I spend 3 to 4 hours a day in the morning hours, settings near their territory in the outdoors watching the birds and, then in the afternoon I will try to spend another 2 or 3 hours. The evening hours, I download the photos from the day and go through them to find the best photos that I capture during that day. There can be any where from 100-700 photos from the days shoot to go through. It all depends on how active the wildlife is that day.
The weather plays a big role in your day also. After finding the best photos of the day I upload them into my photo editor to do a little fine tuning of the photo to bring out colors and some detail. I’ve had to learn and still learning my photo editor. I have a Canon Pro 1000 Printer that allows me to print photos from 8” x 10” up to 17” x 22”. I’m learning the printer also, its not your every day printer. I use photo paper and the white archival backing board and mating board, which are acid-free, low lignin content and neutral PH. It also has a Calcium carbonate buffer. I want my photos to last for a long time, so I’m using top quality paper and mating.
I hope you enjoy the photo as much as I do. I’m always amazed at the photos I capture during the day and I can’t believe God gave me the chance to get out to watch His wonderful wildlife in action. And I have to thank God for giving me the talent to capture these photos of His wildlife in action. God is teaching me patience in my older age by sitting for hours to capture these amazing photos of the amazing wildlife. Again, Gracie and I Thank You for stopping by to view one of God’s magnificent wildlife photos.