I am retired and currently living in Blacksburg, Virginia. Having lived almost thirty years in the Shenandoah Valley, I spent a lot of time hiking and photographing in the Shenandoah National Park. Many of my plant and bird photographs are from the backyard garden, an oasis in Toms Brook. Now I'm reacquainting myself with the southwestern part of Virginia.
In the galleries, you'll see groups of ten. These are photos I am particularly happy with, the ones I'd show anyone. Lastly, there is the new group, more documentary, less curated. Here I am showing what I've seen lately that caught my eye.
You can contact me at my gmail address, beginning with wilburnherb (you know the rest!).
My Gear
I shoot Pentax. When I got serious about taking photos, I had access to an old Pentax K1000 film camera and lenses from college days (late 1970's)... Whoops!
In late March 2025, I jumped ship! I wasn't feeling good about Ricoh's commitment to Pentax and was increasingly frustrated with the autofocus on my trusty KP. It was getting a little long in the tooth and was intermittently failing. (Well, so am I!) Then...
I've moved to Nikon. There was a deal on the Z8 which included the 24-120 S lens so I went for it. Next was selling all my old gear to Adorama and picking up the other lenses and accessories I would need. So now I have:
Nikon Z8
Nikkor S F4 24-105 Lens
Nikkor 180-600 5.6-6.3 Lens
Peak Design straps and quick releases
Shimoda 30L C30 VS camera backpack
In the market for a tripod/monopod
I am really happy with the Nikon gear. Sure, some of it is due just to the improvements that any brand would have over ten year old equipment, but the Z8 is a true pleasure to use. The big files are beautiful and the autofocus is amazing. It was an expensive upgrade, but I don't do that kind of thing too often. It makes me happy, most days, and that's what I've saved my money for, right?