Hi Everyone!

[Amy DeStefanis]

I'm so glad James Shadle suggested this forum to me! The images you guys have all posted are incredible!

This picture is of Walter - our very photogenic cat, whom we rescued from the Pinellas County Humane Society. He had a trebel hook in his leg when he was brought into the shelter, and terrible Upper Respiratory Infections. Since he's been with us, he's barely sneezed! And he's such a handsome boy! My husband wanted to rename him Captain Hook - but once that morphed into Captain Morgan, he became Walter again....

Walter LOVES to have his picture taken. I swear he actually poses. I caught him preparing his fur for the next shot....

Other favorite subjects are the flowers that I manage to get to bloom - I love huge photos of flowers! We are avid divers, and I've recently invested in a "real" underwater housing and strobe for my Nikon D70. My husband also recently gave me the D80 with which I captured some incredible shots of an immature Blue Heron attacking a red-shouldered hawk trying to steal (recover?) the fish he was eating. I'll post those in the appropriate forum.

That brings me to the next favorite to photograph: Birds. I've taken Jim Shadle's workshop out at Fort DeSoto, but I also enjoy kayaking on our wonderful Hillsborough River, and bringing my 70-300 VR lens. Shooting from a kayak is a challenge, but it's not unlike shooting underwater - where everything is in motion. Thank goodness for the VR!!!

I look forward to getting to know everyone, and learning as much as I can from you all!

Amy DeStefanis

[Josh O'Donnell]

Amy, welcome to BPN, it's nice to see another Tampanian here... Lovely looking kittie you have there, your Walter looks a lot like our Roscoe, I have several photos of him and his sister posted here in this section. I look forward to seeing more!

[Alfred Forns]

Amy when you started talking about underwater/gear etc I almost went into shock :eek:............. I thought the next thing you would say was you got an outfit for Walter :D so he could dive with you :):):cool:

Proud of him sure looks handsome My girls are sleeping (what else is new :cool:) but will introduce them tomorrow

btw I was on the Aggressor in Cayman when the diving dog was aboard Had his own diving rig Looked like a tank on his back but actually the air came form the owners tank He looked comical in that sphere helmet btw when it came time to dive you had to dig him out of any furniture he could find !!!!!

[Amy DeStefanis]

Hi Alfred,

I do have an old housing that I have thought of using for our travelling companion (stuffed) monkey. His diving bell..... But it's silly enough to drag him along, much less drag a housing for him, huh?

We have also done several Aggressor trips - so far in this hemisphere only. We just returned from Utila, and in June, are taking our 2nd trip aboard the Galapagos Aggressor. I guess if we weren't such diving junkies, I could afford one of those fast lenses the big boys use.....