What’s Up?
It drizzled for most of Sunday. In the afternoon, I sat in stinky, rotting kelp for three hours photographing worn, molting adult Purple Sandpipers and Arctic Terns. The terns were hunting small invertebrates of some sorts, probably
arthropods.
Today is Monday 24 July 2023. It is not raining and I am heading out early.
Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day.
If you would like info on the 2024 and/or the 2025 puffin trips, please shoot me an e-mail by clicking here.
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Greg liked working with tools early on Image courtesy of and copyright Greg’s Mom |
Greg Downing at Age Four
Greg got his first tool set when he was four years old. He needed to stand on a bench to get up to the height of the worktable. That his dad Howard was an architect spurred Greg’s interest in home construction.
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Greg built his own home during COVID Image courtesy of and copyright Downing Contracting Company |
Downing Contracting Company
Custom Home Building, Remodeling, and Renovation
Greg started the Downing Contracting Company (all by himself) in 1985 when he was just 19 years old. As you can see above, he is an incredibly talented builder; I am envious of his skills and knowledge. Can you imagine building an entire home from the ground up by yourself? I have always wished that I could build (or even fix) something with my own hands (heck, I’m Jewish…), and wished that I could sing well or play a musical instrument. And so it goes (Billy Joel).
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This image was created by Greg Downing at St. Paul Island, Alaska. While hanging over the edge of a steep cliff, hundreds of feet above the Bering Sea, he used the handheld Canon 300mm f/2.8 IS L lens with the Canon EOS-1D Mark IV. ISO 800: 1/320 sec. at f/11. Image #1: Tufted Puffin head portrait
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Greg Downing and Bird Photography
Greg began bird photography in the mid-late 1990s. He purchased his first telephoto lens, “from some unknown dude in Las Vegas, a Canon 400mm f/2.8 non IS with a 2X. TC (horrible vignetting).” His then-girlfriend got him a hard copy of The Art of Bird Photography (by yours truly). He skipped the intro and got right to the meat and potatoes. Some time after that, he finally read the foreword and was moved to tears as he read about the loss of my beloved wife Elaine. Then he e-mailed me, thanked me for the great book, and sent his condolences. I e-mailed him back within minutes and invited him to join me in Cape May for an IPT.
That was one of my first-ever Instructional Photo-Tours, probably in the spring of 1998 or thereabouts. In his own words, “It was you, me, Ned Harris and someone else whom I don’t remember. If I recall, it was $250 for the three-day IPT — the deal of the century!”
Soon thereafter, Greg assisted me on a St. Paul Island/Pribilofs IPT. Transport was via a Boeing 727-100 aircraft flown by Reeve Aleutian Airlines. The landings and take-offs and most everything else were done in very foggy conditions. As I recall, there had been at least one big crash on a landing at St. Paul. One time we landed in the fog and a wheel broke off the plane. I was stranded for days until they flew in replacement parts and a work crew.
Anyhoo, Greg remembers that we took turns holding each other by the ankles as we leaned too far over the edge of a big cliff. The multitudinous seabirds there included Horned and Tufted Puffins, Least, Parakeet, and Crested Auklets, Thick-billed and Common Murres, and Red-faced Cormorant. I heard recently that the Least Auklets have disappeared. Anyhooo, there are many great memories of a foggy place shared with a friend.
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This image was created by Greg Downing at Volunteer Point in The Falklands. He used the handheld Canon 24-70mm wide angle zoom lens (at 55mm) with the Canon EOS-1Dx. ISO 800: 1/1000 sec. at f/11. Image #2: King Penguins/stormy skies
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Greg’s Amazingly Wonderful Life and Career in Nature Photography
Like me, Greg has been blessed to have traveled the world teaching interested folks to improve their photography. And like me, he has made many lifelong friends along the way.
Here is just a partial list of the great places he has been privileged to visit: Cape May, New Jersey; Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, Queens, NY; Bosque del Apache NWR (when it was good); Churchill, Manitoba, Canada, Nome, AK. Homer, AK; St. Paul, AK; Silver Salmon Creek Lodge, AK; Katmai National Park, AK, San Diego, CA; the Falklands, the Southern Ocean, Ecuador; the Galapagos Archipelago; Columbia, Costa Rica; Iceland; multiple world class photo locations in Africa, the Texas coast for migrant songbirds; the Rio Grande Valley; British Columbia, Canada; India, for tigers: The Himalayas, Ladakh, India, for Snow Leopard; Patagonia; Yellowstone National Park, Montana; the Pantanal, Brazil; Pôrto Jofre, Mato Grosso, Brazil for Jaguar; his own backyard in Maryland, and many more.
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This image was created by Greg Downing in Ecuador. He used the tripod-mounted Canon 70-200mm at 145mm with the Canon EOS 5D. ISO 250: 1/200 sec. at f/16 (multiflash set up using 4 flashes at 1/16 power). Image #3: Violet-tailed Sylph
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Similarities
Greg’s style of bird photography is flatteringly similar to mine, clean, tight, and graphic. We both strive to create images with non-distracting backgrounds. We both love head shots. We both love soft light on cloudy-bright days. And at one point in our careers, we both did some multi-flash hummingbird work. (See the The Hummingbird Guide – How to Photograph Hummingbirds Using High-Speed Multiple Flash by Linda Robbins with Arthur Morris.)
Greg founded an educational website, NatureScapes.Net, with several friends and is now the sole owner. I founded an educational website, BirdPhotgrapher.Net with several friends, and am now the sole owner. Greg developed the Skimmer and the Skimmer II and has sold several thousands of them. I invented the BLUBB and have sold many hundreds of them.
We both have used and depended on Delkin flash cards for more than two decades. We both began using Canon gear and we both switched to Nikon at some point. Then I graduated to Sony. Greg loves his Nikon Z9.
We both have a burning passion to make great images and to teach others to do the same thing.
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This image was created by Greg Downing in Kamploops, British Columbia, Canada. He used the tripod/Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Pro-mounted Nikkor 500mm/f4E with 1.4X TC-E (at 700mm) with the FTZ-II adapter and the Nikon Z9. ISO 640: 1/1250 sec. at f/7.1. Image #4: Horned Grebes courting
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About Greg
Greg has been traveling the world teaching professional and amateur photographers for more than two decades while hosting instructional workshops and seminars. Instructing photographers of all experience levels, Greg has earned a reputation for his gracious and generous teaching style.
Greg’s images are known for their unique style, exacting composition and strict attention to detail. As an internationally recognized photographer, his numerous publishing credits include books, advertising campaigns and editorial publications such as Birding Magazine, Outdoor Photographer Magazine, Birder’s World, National Geographic and many others. Especially passionate about birds, his images can also be found in printed form in several Wildbird Centers on the east coast, as well as appearing in private art exhibitions.
In 2003 Greg founded www.NatureScapes.net with E.J. Peiker and Heather Forcier. Today Greg is the Publisher, President and sole owner of the company and oversees all operations from his home base in Manchester, Maryland.
As Greg travels the world making great images, he enjoys meeting others, teaching, and sharing his passion while making new lifelong friends in the process.
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This image was created by Greg Downing at Kamploops, British Columbia, Canada. He used the Canon 500mm f/4 L IS lens with the 1.4X TC (at 700mm) and the Canon EOS-1D X on a flattened tripod. ISO 1600: 1/500 sec. at f/5.6. Image #5: Common Loon with chick peeking out from under the adult’s wing
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Loons
Greg has been photographing Common Loons with chicks in BC for 15 or so years. He is the Loon Whisperer. He makes a cooing sound to attract mother loons; they swim right up to his water craft and bring their chicks.
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This image was created by Greg Downing in northern Iceland. He used the tripod/Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Pro-mounted Nikkor 500mm/f4E with the Nikon D850. ISO 1600: 1/1250 sec. at f/5/5.6. Image #6: Arctic Loon in breeding plumage
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Arctic Loon
Arctic Loon breeds mainly in Northern Europe and is rarely seen in Iceland. They are incredibly rare in North America and are on every birder’s most wanted list. On one of his first Iceland trips, Greg found this amazingly beautiful bird on a dark rainy afternoon. He returned the next morning in decent weather and made many great images showing the bird’s spectacular purple throat.
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This image was created by Greg Downing at Grimsey Island, Iceland. He used the handheld Nikkor 70-200/f2.8 with 1.4X TC (at 270mm) with the Nikon D5. ISO 1000: 1/4000 at f/4. Image #7: Razorbill in flight, dorsal view
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Grimsey Island
Greg began running trips to Grimsey Island about six years ago. It is accessible by air or by ferry. Simply put, it is the best photography location on the planet for Atlantic Puffin and Razorbill.
If you would like info on Greg’s 2024 and/or 2025 puffin trips, please shoot me an e-mail by clicking here.
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This image was created by Greg Downing at Grimsey Island, Iceland. He used the handheld Nikkor 70-200/f2.8 with 1.4X TC (at 270mm) with the Nikon D5. ISO 1600: 1/4000 at f/4. Image #8: Atlantic Puffin in flight with sand eels, dorsal view
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On Friendship
Twenty-five years ago we had a great friendship. Over the years, we had drifted apart. Neither of us is sure of why that happened. Being here together on Grimsey has renewed our friendship and we have had boatloads of fun. It is never too late to get in touch with old friends.
Your Call?
Which two of Greg’s eight fabulous images do you feel are the strongest? Please leave a comment and let us know why you made your choice.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
So sweet to read these comments – I’m humbled 🙂 Thank you
Great post. Loon, Horned Grebes, Tufted Puffin are my fav’s.
Barbra and I have known Greg for 15 years and enjoyed his company and knowledge ever since. Been to almost every continent with him, and learned so much. Our most unforgettable trip with him was to the Falkland’s, where he tried to foist a frozen fish entree that not even the Johnny Rock’s would eat. Thank you for posting this.
I count Greg as a friend and had the pleasure of hosting many of Greg’s work shops in Kamloops. The loons always accommodating. I also have a fond memory of Mr. Morris visiting in search of those same loons. Both gentlemen are exemplars in their field. Iam privileged to have met them both and continue to follow Greg’s adventures with awe and respect for a master of his craft.
Artie: You’re correct in your praise about Greg. He’s a 5-star guy and a superb photographer. I met him last year in South Texas (bird workshop). This past January my wife and I joined Greg for a 10-day bird workshop in Costa Rica. In September my wife and I will join Greg in Tanzania for a 12-day safari.
So now Greg has ALL our $$$ and can buy more gear!
All the images are great but I particularly like the Tufted Puffin and the two dorsal images of the razorbill and Atlantic Puffin. You don’t see many tufted puffin images let alone such a great closeup.
All 8 images are interesting and well made! Above the images is Greg liked working with tools early on — is cute and funny!
“It drizzled for most of Sunday. In the afternoon, I sat in stinky, rotting kelp for three hours photographing worn, molting adult Purple Sandpipers and Arctic Terns.” Contained in this sentence is a hint of one of the reasons that you have achieved your level of extreme excellence in the field! Hoping to join you, if not in stinky kelp, somewhere equally instructive in the future. Andrew
Hi Artie, just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed this post in your blog. Wonderful photography, I can see your style in the images, so much is alike.
Safe travels, be well…
Gregg reminds me of someone I know Scott
I think he had his first tools at age 2
anf is finishing his 1400 square extension one his house included a amazing fire place
Scott and Gregg would have a lot to talk about except for the birds
his pictures are amazing
when do you start your journey home safe trip whenever
your sister ilene