Debbie Ferrell

My interest in nature began many years ago while living in Missouri. My grandparents taught me a deep appreciation and respect for nature.

It was in my late teenage years I purchased my first camera. It was a Pentax K1000. My first subjects were flowers growing in my grandmother's garden. My attempts at portraiture were disheartening and I quickly returned to the subjects that I loved.

Texas became my home in 1986. Shortly after moving I realized that this state is home to an abundance of wildlife and that yearning to capture nature's beauty on film returned once again. I opted to upgrade to the Nikon 8008S and soon added the Nikon 500 F4P to my equipment. I was now finally able to photograph birds.

Currently I use the Canon 40D. My main working lens is the 500mm 4.5 but I also use the 180mm macro, 100-300mm, and 400mm 5.6 and my 18-55 wide angle. I also carry a 1.4 and 2x teleconverter, extensions tubes and a Canon 550 EX flash.

My online nature photo experience has included assisting on the MSN nature forums as well as later starting a community on MSN which I moved in 2001 due to questions of copyright infringement by MSN. The MSN Community "The Birds Nest" site became the PhotoMigrations site in 2001.In early 2000 I was invited by Jim Erhardt to assist with an exciting new and soon to be announced site called Naturephotographers.net. This site became quite popular in a short period of time. In 2000 Jim Erhardt invited Charles Glatzer and me to join as equal partners with him in the site. Charles and I agreed and the business partnership only added to the content as well as quality of the site. In November of 2001 I sold my shares in NPN back to the corporation and dissolved that partnership.

Naturephotographers.net and Birdzilla are two sites where both my images and articles have been published. I am proud to have been accepted at Profotos and to have my gallery displayed on their wonderful site. My work is represented by one stock agency and my images have sold for publication in both Canada and the United States.

Photographers who have had the greatest influence on my work are Jim Zuckerman, Kathy Adams Clark, Erwin and Peggy Bauer, Arthur Morris, John Shaw and Tom Vezo. Each of these pros offers a unique and well defined style that inspires me. If you enjoy exciting images or want to learn more about technique look for their images and books. You will not be disappointed.

My charitable contributions include memberships with Audubon, Ducks Unlimited and the ASPCA.

I reside in Houston with my best friends, Bud, a mixed breed and Riley, a female Irish Terrier.