The Photographer of the Month For October 2022 is Steen Jensen

How long have you been taking pictures? What or who got you started

I bought my first camera for my university study in biology and geology/geography around 1971. I think it was a Nikon F2S Photomic film camera with a Type A focusing screen and a ‘Micro-Nikkors 55 mm f/3.5’. I only shot diapositive films, both color and black and white.
Motives were birds, insects, flowers, fossils, plus family pictures and vacation snapshots.
This equipment was later stolen and I did not replace it.

I am Danish born, and I have a 44 years old son, Morten who lives in Copenhagen. When I was 42, I was offered to move to the company headquarters in Frankfurt am Main in Germany. I worked there as a Clinical Quality Auditor and made a lot of international travel. (I have up to now visited 40 diffhe (new) headquarter in Paris, France. I here bought a Nikon Coolpix E5700. Now shooting digital, I did more travel and location photography but additionally still photographed lots of birds, insects and flowers.

What camera/lenses do you use or do you have a favorite camera and why?

I met Jennifer (and got to know her better) while she was working for Sanofi in Bridgewater, NJ and I in Paris. We started dating in 2006, and in 2008 she arranged with my family to give me a Nikon D300 with anAF Zoom-NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4-5.6G. This is my go-to setup for my photography, even though I now have three other lenses:

AF-S VR Micro-NIKKOR 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED
AF-S DX VR Zoom-NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED
Sigma 150-500 mm f/4.5-6.3 with an APO Teleconverter 2x EX
& Nikon Speedlight SB-600

I normally shoot combined Large NEFs (=Nikon RAW) and ‘Fine JPGs Uncompressed and OptimumQuality’.

The only software I use is the ‘Nikon Capture NX 2’. I mainly use it for Straightening, Cropping,Lightening/Darkening.

I am generally very satisfied with this camera but it is (like me) growing old (Total Number of Shutter Releases for Camera: 113,453 – Checked with ‘Opanda IEXIF 2’). Further the mirror noise is recording on all Jennifer’s videos. Although I am looking at the Nikon Z5 mirrorless, I am not entirely focused on Nikon, but I would be staying with Nikon to be able to continue to use my lenses.

Our binoculars are ‘Canon Image Stabilizer, 15x50 IS UD 4.5’’ ’. Once I overheard someone saying: “… not only is he fat, but his binoculars are fat, too”
Jennifer has a ‘Sony HDR-XR 260V’ video camera and a ‘Canon PowerShot SX730HS’ point-and-shoot.

What is your favorite genre and subject matter?

Birds, insects, flowers, plus family pictures and vacation snapshots.
My biggest interest is to find out which species are the animals/flowers on my pictures. I check books, the internet and lent material in libraries.

What’s on your photo bucket list?

Places where we have not yet been plus revisiting many of the places we have been to. Our biggest wish is Antarctica, (and for me South America); that would ensure that we have photographed on all seven continents.

I would like to get into ‘Layers’ for macrophotography.

Do you have a favorite spot you like to photograph?

Yes: Pilanesberg National Park in South Africa