Photography has always fascinated me as an art form and has been a part of my life for many years. I grew up as a child with what can best be described as an internal need to satisfy my creative side. My high school years were spent taking as many elective classes in art as possible. On graduation I pursued a formal study in Art School, envisioning an artistic career as my goal. My plans and dreams faded when testing revealed that I was color blind, a career changing setback that I took too seriously and so I joined the service.
After a tour in the US Navy I went back to school and then worked for a major US airline until I retired in 2000. I fell in love with the Pacific Northwest and reside in Battle Ground Washington located northeast of Portland Oregon.
The need to fulfill and satisfy the "artistic juices" inside, has always been a part of my life, no matter where I was living or how old I was. I began woodcarving in the early 70's and spent over 30 years creating wild bird sculpture which sent me into the field to capture wild bird photo's. Bird carvers are always in search of good reference material to help duplicate the feathered creatures we see in nature into artistic recreations. That pursuit of detailed wildbird photo's is how my artistic talents got channeled into photography and learning how digital photography could capture bird photographs of the highest quality possible.
Having switched from film to a digital format in 2002, I spent a few years learning and upgrading my cameras and lenses. In 2004 my new love transformed itself from "Hobby to Small Business" and I formed Craig Strand Photography when my work reached a "saleable" status. While I specialize in "Nature Photography," including land and seascapes, It becomes evident, after browsing my different Galleries, that my passion lies in capturing high quality wildbird and floral images.
Equipment I use Canon cameras and lenses, currently the canon 7D digital SLR camera with the main birding lens a 600mm f4.L IS USM with 1.4 teleconverter to capture wildbirds closeup. For floral work I use 2 lenses, a canon 100mm macro f2.8L IS USM and the Lensbabies "Composer" lens and on occasion a canon speedlite 580 EX II. For any needed editing and processing I use Photoshop CS4, Lightroom, Nik's suite of filters, HDR photo's in Photomatix Pro and Image Stacking in Helicon Soft.
Supporting equipment includes tripods by Manfrotto, a Wimberley Head for the 600mm and a "StackShot" rail by cognisys Inc for image stacking.
Retirement has given me the ability to do what I enjoy most, being out in nature and capturing some of the beauty that Nature creates for us to enjoy.
