Photography became a passion of mine as I entered high school.  Prior to that I’d taken the odd picture or two with the ubiquitous Kodak Instamatic and its cartridge based 126 film.  Not very good quality, no compositional flare, and very limited subject matter (mostly of my brother doing weird things).

My father bought me a camera to take with me as I set off on my high school experience at a prep school out east, Deerfield Academy.  Being the only kid at the school from the state of Iowa, and somewhat shy, the camera gave me an easy way to be involved by being in the background.  I grew out of the shyness with my classmates during that first quarter of classes and sports.  The camera became, then, a pleasant means of escape and ongoing creative expression in an otherwise cramped schedule.

I took my first photography class the winter of my first year and immediately fell in love with the amazing transformation the chemistry of photographic development brought out.  Transforming what my eye caught in an instant into a lifetime of fixed images to enjoy and reminisce with.  I am sitting here now, some 34 years after those first photos, and reconnecting with the memories they evoke.

As my interest in photography grew and evolved I began experimenting with non-conventional photographic techniques.  It was not enough for me to just compose, expose and develop quality images.  I became intrigued with ways to manipulate the medium in ways that would break the confines of time sliced into fractions of a second.

I acquired a substantial library of photography books which shaped my compositional aesthetics.  From Ansel Adams series on black and white photography and the zone system to David Hockney’s Camerawork I found inspiration in a wide variety of techniques and styles.

My more recent works, the past ten years or so of digital only photography, embrace the compositional and tonal aesthetics of the early photographic masters (Adams, Weston, etc) and explore the boundaries of time and exposure available with this new digital medium.

My Photographic Gallery currently showcases some recent works along with six topical categories: People, Places, Still Life, Panoramas, Abstracts, Blurs, and Mosaics.  More on the last three in other posts.