Wayne Wolfersberger will concentrate on what one can shoot around the house and yard, and show images of set ups as well as the resulting images shots that were made. He will show what can be done in the house, from a patio birdfeeder, and in a backyard. Wayne will share simple techniques to attract birds and other wildlife for photography as well as favorite plants, such as native wildflowers and ferns to photograph. He will demonstrate using some tools and props used to enhance the photographic process. He will also bring a few modified aquaria used to help with natural settings for many of his close up or macro shots. The largest critters he has photographed in his back yard has been occasional deer, but most often he photographs birds, insects, flowers and other vegetation. The smallest things were aphids using a 50mm lens with a reversing ring which he will bring that as part of the demonstration.

Wayne Wolfersberger has been interested in photographing wildlife since childhood. He said he and fell in love with the natural world but back then the camera was secondary. Wayne was mainly interested in reptiles and amphibians in my very early teens and initially wanted to be a herpetologist. He did a lot of bird watching as well. He always took the family Kodak Brownie Hawkeye when we would go on family trips and always urged my parents to take side trips to various nature type places near to the Disneyland or beach resorts etc. so he could photograph the wildlife. Wayne says he has lots of pathetic pictures of animal life from these trips. “One thing that impacted me the most was when my family made a trip during my high school years to the West. We traveled to many of the national parks but my favorite was Yellowstone. I wanted to return.”

Wayne received a BS from the U of MD in Conservation and Resource Management took a job in Yellowstone between his Sophomore and Junior years. His job was washing dishes in the local cafeteria, but he hiked a lot, partied a lot and started taking pictures of wildlife. He bought his first SLR camera – a Kodak Retina Reflex III, replacing it later with the first SLR Nikon, the F1. This was when he started getting serious about photography, reading some books on wildlife photography, working for a commercial photographer and taking a lot of pictures during class field trips to nature preserves for ecological studies.

He worked for the US Fish and Wildlife Service as a research biologist at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Laurel Maryland. Later, he joined the Navy (during the Vietnam War) and ended up working at the US Navy Photo Lab in DC. After leaving the Navy, he taught biology and used the camera in the class room and on many of the ecology field trips but mainly took pictures of kids in the field working. Through the years, he did weddings, school shots and craft fairs. He joined NVPS in the l980’s and gained a lot of valuable experiences by participating in evening activities and field trips and serving in various board roles, including President.

Before, during and after retiring from the teaching field (Fairfax County Public Schools 30 years and VT for eight years part time) he has had images used on local and national calendars, post cards and magazines as well as having had gallery shows both solo and with others. Since retiring, he has been teaching photography courses through FCPS and as of this fall, with FCPA. He says this challenges himself to try new techniques and keep abreast of all the new stuff that keeps coming out in the photo world. In addition to the basic and advanced classes, he also does private lessons.