Greg Shchepanek

 Online Activities This is where you can find me throughout the web, please follow and like when you can it would be much appreciated. I began my first time on social media by joining Facebook in 2007 on the recommendation of a friend and there you can find my several profiles endorsing my work and interests these are my most popular of seven : Main profile :  http://www.facebook.com/greg.shchepanek/ Photography profile :  http://www.facebook.com/GSDesignPhotography/ Design & Illustration profile :  http://www.facebook.com/GregSDesignPhotography Instagram :  http://www.instagram.com/greg.shchepanek/ Seven Deadly Sins I first began my interest in nature photography on a trip to Newfoundland in the year of 2010 but unfortunately lost my phone with the photos in New York City just after my Eastern Coast adventure. I would become more involved with my nature interests in the following year with the purchase of a HTC Desire HD phone accompanied with an Olympus F...

 My Most Popular American Red Squirrel ( Tamiasciurus hudsonicus ) Prelude Lake Territorial Park, Northwest Territories, Canada. I have been a participant on this photo site for about a year now and I find it to be the most puzzling site in which I have posted my photos. 500px allows you to feature your photos and permits you to sell them under a Licensing feature that allows you to keep copyright but you can sell your photos and get paid up to 100% in royalties. So far I have made $3.38 and 69 of my photos are being sold on Getty Images, a Canadian site for royalty-free stock photos and creativity images for sale. You can find my photos here :  https://www.gettyimages.ca  all in all I have 113 licensed on 500px and I haven't figured out how the process works for the images being selected.  My first photo sold. Anyways I do hope my photos pick up in the near future and I can start to generate some income from them, I have just joined a new site Etejo where I can sel...

 Celebrating Snakes Today Eastern Garter Snake ( Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis) Prescott-Russell Recreational Trail, Ontario, Canada.  The theme for World Snake Day 2024 emphasises the critical role snakes play in the environment and how they can be good neighbours by controlling pest populations and contributing to biodiversity.  I love to photograph snakes. Most common is the Eastern Garter Snake that I come across most often. It is most favourable to photograph snakes in the spring and fall this is when they are most  docile and very slow in their movements. Otherwise they move with great speeds to get away from you in the summer months. It is kind of scary that most species of snake have a conservation status connected to them and it is becoming increasingly harder to come across these wonderful creatures in the wild. The rarest being the Massasauga Rattlesnake the only rattlesnake here in Ontario, I have only come across once in my travels to the Bruce Peninsul...

 Alleyn-et-Cawood, Quebec, Canada Whorled Loosestrife  ( Lysimachia quadrifolia ) Kaz Station, Quebec, Canada. Conservation Status: Vulnerable (S3) in Québec, CA (NatureServe) Flowers and butterflies oh my. It was hot ! And the bugs were buggy ! But it was a great escape from the heat of the city. Went to the cottage in search of rare flowers and Monarch Butterflies, only saw one Monarch at Kaz Station but the Whorled Loosestrife was in full form and an excellent quantity from previous years of observation.  Still getting used to the new camera and lenses it proved difficult to the Loosestrife photos it being a delicate small flower with multiple focal points as seen in the top photos. What turned out great were the butterfly photos on Milkweed. In particular a Dun Skipper turned out great to photograph on the bulbous Milkweed flowers and my 100mm lens did not let me down. What did let me down was my 35mm macro lens it was very difficult focusing on the Loosestrife and I ...

 Bugs ! LeConte's Tiger Beetle ( Cicindela scutellaris lecontei ) Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Went to the Piney Forest Trails to chase Tiger Beetles on the sand dunes. Photographing Festive Tiger Beetles, I was looking for the Ghost but he was not out to play. Then went to Chapman Mills Conservation Area to hike the trails through the marsh on the Rideau River. Took some flower pictures but once again I focused on the insects that were in the tall grass. It's always so nice to come across a nice patch of Milkweed, there you will find all sorts of bugs doing their thing and pollinating.  European Skipper ( Thymelicus lineola ) Chapman Mills Conservation Area, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Bush Katydid ( Scudderia spp. ) Chapman Mills Conservation Area, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The day was hot, I'm still trying to get used to my new lenses, but I found it surprising that there were few Tiger Beetles out on the hot sands. I did see some Eastern Sand Tiger Beetles, but they were n...