John Wise

John Wise was born in 1946 in Blackhill in North East England. He has been married to his wife Jennifer for over 40 years and they have a son and daughter, Richard and Suzanne, and two young grandchildren Patrick and Nicholas .

For the past 15 years they have lived in Orlando, Florida although they still have an apartment in St. Peters Riverside in Sunderland.

After leaving Houghton-le-Spring Grammar School John went into the jewellery trade which continued for the next 38 years. He was able to live and work on the Caribbean Islands of Curacao and Aruba and for more than 20 years he owned a jewellery store in Washington Galleries. Upon moving to America he started a new career as a business broker arranging business sales to mainly European buyers.

John is one of our international members and says, “I look forward to coming to the DPS meetings when I am back in the North East and I enter the online digital competitions which I really enjoy”.

MY PHOTOGRAPHY

I was interested in photography from a very early age and I bought my first SLR while I was living in Curacao in 1971– a Pentax Spotmatic. I tried all types of photography although at the time I only had the standard lens. Several years later I got a Nikon F2 and my first wide angle and telephoto lenses and set up a darkroom to process my own monochrome films and prints.

Next was a Mamiya RB67 and some Bowens Monolites and for several years in Aruba I operated a small part time portrait business. I also did some magazine covers and work for the Aruba tourist board.

Since moving to Florida I became interested in Wildlife photography and now concentrate mainly on birds (with a few alligators). I have a website which is a work in progress – www.birdsandalligators.com . There are many wetlands and State Parks in Florida with good access to wildlife and there is the Great Florida Birding Trail with numerous opportunities to photograph a variety of birds. One of the oldest Florida attractions- Gatorland encourages both amateur and professional photographers with an excellent rookery and early morning and evening access during the nesting season. They also provide workshops and an annual bird and reptile photo competition.

 MY FIRST CAMERA

A Pentax Spotmatic in 1971

MY FAVOURITE CURRENT KIT

In recent years I used a Canon EOS 40D, now a Canon Eos 7D, with a Canon 100-400 F4.5-5.6 L IS and a Canon 70-200 F4 L with an EF 1.4X II tele-converter. Both work well for the majority of bird and wildlife images.

ME AND THE DPS

Shortly after we came back to live in England in 1977 I joined Durham Photographic Society which really encouraged me to learn and compete. Over the years I had success in many of the club competitions and served on the committee as press and publicity officer.

As an international member these days I still enter competitions, winning the Digital Trophy and 1^st place in the 3^rd Progress digital in 2009 and winning the Pixel Trophy and Fillingham Trophy in 2010.

THE PEARL (Advice to budding photographers)

My advice to budding photographers is to join a good society like Durham and get the chance to both learn and compete. Photography is a wonderful hobby and creative outlet and can provide lifelong satisfaction and enjoyment.