BruceFinocchio

If you looked into the eyes of a bird or wild animal, you know that they have a soul, a spirit, an aliveness that is similar to your own. Each bird or animal has an individual personality, a special spirituality of its own. This spirituality is what I try to capture in my nature images. I look through the window of my eyes and bring out the beauty and the spirit of each bird and animal whose picture I take. That s what I try to capture in my photography, the special awe and wonder, and mystery of the earth the aliveness of all living things.

Meet Bruce Finocchio

I am a wildlife, nature, and scenic photographer, specializing in bird photography. I now live in San Mateo, after spending most of my adult life in Millbrae. I previously worked full-time for Applied Biosystems and Life Technologies as a senior business analysis. I left this position a few years ago to concentrate on my true passion of nature photography.

My Dad was a Deer Hunter and bought some property in Monterey County, so he could have a place of his own to go deer hunting. We have own this property since 1946. I grew up spending my summers down there, following in my father's footsteps, hunting quail, dove, and black tailed deer — using a b-b gun, graduating up to a powerful hunting rifle.

When I was eighteen I had to kill a black tailed buck up close shooting him in the neck, since my first shot from a far had only wounded him. I saw death up close and personal, deciding from that moment on I didn't not want to be part of death, but to cherish life instead.

My philosophy is:

"I love the earth! No moment is the same. Each moment is uniquely different. The natural world captures my spirit and my love. My goal is to show the inherent beauty within all life and make that beauty "sing" out in each image I make."

My friends and I do a lot of bird photograph at my ranch in rural Monterey County, using photo blinds extensively; and recently we have built a few permanent ponds to attract wildlife.

During the dry season from May to November, birds and wildlife are drawn to these ponds as the only source of water in the area, giving wonderful photographic opportunities. We also spend the spring time looking for nesting birds, and scouting out old trees nest cavities in search nesting situations and fledging young birds.

Now I am hosting bird photographers on this property for bird blind workshops. Please contact me if you interested in photographing birds up close and personal in this idyllic setting in rural Monterey County.

I was a Minolta user, but switch to Canon in 2001. I used to shoot extensively with slide film; now I strictly use digital camera bodies, specifically now the Canon 7D and 40D bodies, previously the Canon D1 Mark II and as backup the Canon 20D. I primary use RAW capture, and process the images in Photoshop. I recently upgraded to CS5, and also have many external hard drives to store my raw files.

My primary bird lens is a 600 mm IS lens, I also have a 100 -- 400 mm IS for mammals, a new 400 mm DO IS lens for flight shots, and a 100 mm macro lens for wildflowers and insects. I use a 16 - 28 mm wide angle zoom lens for scenic images.

I have been a member of the Peninsula Camera Club in San Mateo, CA since 1992. I competed in Pictorial and Nature Divisions. I have been published in California Wild Magazine wining the best wildlife image photo contest in 2003. One of my coyote image was published in a coyote book by Rio Nuevo Publishers in Tucson, AZ. Other wildlife and bird images have been published by Bay Nature Magazine as well.

I have been published four times in the Expression Publication for the prestigious Northern American Nature Photographer Association (NANPA). I have done nature program for the Northern Council of Camera club's Foto Clave event as well as for other Camera Clubs around the San Francisco Bay Area. Where, I also judge occasionally nature and pictorial competitions.