My name is Maria Melo-Almeida and I am a self-taught, hobbyist, photographer from the Greater Toronto Area in Ontario, Canada. I focus primarily on nature and wildlife photography with my favourite subjects being insects (especially dragonflies) & birds.
I grew up in the city but spent many weekends and summers foraging through the woods or wading through the lake and marsh at our cottage in the Kawartha Lakes. My fascination for and love of nature and wildlife led me to pursue a degree in Biology and Zoology which I believe helps me with my photography. I enjoy watching my subjects' behavior as I photograph them.
I've always had a love of photography. When I was a little girl I would use my parents' film camera to document my travels and anything that I found to be interesting to me, our family pets were my models on many occasions! When I was in Grade 8, my parents gifted me my very own point and shoot camera, a Minolta, which I used for many years. I always wanted to delve further into photography and even joined a photography club in High School but could not afford an SLR at the time and film processing costs could also add up quickly.
Like many others, when digital cameras became available, I left the film world and had a little Sony Cybershot point & shoot which we used for a few years. Eventually, after a great deal of research, I purchased my very first DSLR in 2010, a Nikon D90 with the 18-105mm kit lens. I was instantly hooked on the possibilities and the creativity that was now available to me. I read, watched videos, attended seminars and took many online classes to learn as much as I possibly could on how I could better my images.
I believe that since obtaining my very first DSLR camera, I have grown greatly as a photographer and have learned a great deal. But, the learning never ends! I love to learn new techniques and am constantly striving to better my skill as a photographer and capture better images.
My hope for this blog is to share my images and the stories behind their capture. I also intend to share my experiences on various hikes & travels. On occasion, I will go into more detail on a specific species or subject.
You can check out some of my images using the below links to my various social media sites:
Instagram
Twitter
Flickr
