About

Thanks for taking time to learn a little bit more about me.  No one can ever really explain their entire essence in a small box, but that seems to be what the Internet requires us to do.

I started photography in the late 70′s as a high school student using an Olympus OM-10.  It’s still here in a bag, but it doesn’t see the light of day anymore.  I put it down as personal computers started appearing and my interests changed.  My hobby & obsession with technology turned into a career in engineering and a great career.  Having worked with technology gave me the chance to express myself creatively, whether it was writing programs, designing systems, or writing articles for industry trade magazines.

I renewed my interest in photography in 2003 on an Alaskan Cruise. I dug my old film cameras (the OM-10 and a Minolta Maxxum 5000) along to capture the scenery.  I also had a small digital camera that was OK for snapshots. It was much lighter and easier to carry with me, but I became increasingly frustrated with the shutter lag and poor image quality.  I think the moment that changed my direction was on an excursion through Misty Fjords where I only brought the digital camera and kept missing shots of whales who submerged by the time the shutter got around to clicking.  What I needed was a blend of my SLR and digital convenience.

I went to a local camera store and looked at Canon & Nikon. To be honest, my choice boiled down to which one felt better and I walked out with a Nikon D70.  Since I bought that first DSLR, I’ve been on a path to learning how to improve my photography. After all, it’s not like spending money on a bigger, better camera gives you brighter, better images.  I feel pretty confident with that statement, as I’ve taken a lot of shitty pictures along the way.

One of the first things I learned is that the camera can’t think for you.  Forget the idiot modes and learn how to take control of your exposure. Get closer to your subject.  Look for the light.  Sometimes the difference between an average picture of a person or a great portrait can be as simple as having the subject raise her nose to get rid of harsh light or an unflattering shadow.

Essentially, I’ve been on a tangent to improve the quality of the images I produce; to make the switch from taking pictures to making pictures.  I know, it sounds cliché, but there’s a lot of truth to it.  Anyone can hold a camera and push the button. The fun begins when you start creatively shaping the exposure, using your aperture to separate the subject from background with depth of field, or capturing a streak of lights with a long shutter speed, creatively lighting a scene to show or hide what you desire, or even posing a model to reflect an attitude or emotion.  It’s the seemingly endless combination of techniques and tools that make photography a joy for so many people when you go beyond merely recording history.

Once you’ve captured that scene, the storytelling doesn’t have to end.  I’ve delved into the world of post-processing with Photoshop and brought colors to life, accentuated light where I wanted attention and darkness where I didn’t.  Is it reality?  That depends upon your perspective.  You can walk out and view a colorful scene and end up with drab colors in your camera because it never sees with the same ability as the human eye.  Is a black & white photo real?  Not unless you’re a dog, but it can add some drama to an image.  My goal isn’t to record something just for history, but to attempt to make an image that that communicates something, tells a story, or makes you feel something.

I don’t always succeed, which is part of the attraction.  That’s why I started this blog.  It’s not just to show what I’ve done, but to share my own little journey of creativity with people who have similar interests.  I’m looking forward to reading your comments.