My first job, as a teenager, was in a camera store. From that moment, I was hooked on photography. I started with 35mm format. My first camera was a Hanimex Praktica, an East German camera with the communist version of Zeiss making the lens. It was the only SLR camera I could afford. Over the years, I moved on through two Canons and a Leica.
In my 40s, I switched to a 4×5 camera with the bellows and a cloth over my head. But I found over time that the huge amount of equipment was preventing me from getting to the places I wanted to take pictures. Fortunately technology came along with the digital camera. I love the freedom and power that digital photography allows me today.
From the beginning I was drawn to landscapes and still-life images. The former for the grandeur and the latter for the textures. I started out almost exclusively taking black and white, due mostly to cost. By the time I moved to the 4×5 format I had changed almost completely to color and Velvia film for its great saturation. Today, I have moved back to a mix of color and black and white images. But I still enjoy the darkroom on my computer.
My equipment is made up of two camera systems. My primary landscape system is based on the micro-4/3 standard. The camera is an Olympus and the lenses are Panasonic and Olympus. My other system is based around the Leica Monochrom camera. This camera takes only black and white images. But by limiting the system to only monochrome it is able to perfect the images in ways that are not possible today for color systems.
My most recent direction has been to start taking portraits. These are black and white only. If you are interested please contact me.
My Artist Statement
I love visiting Earth’s beautiful places and I want to record what I see. I do this to enjoy them again later and to share them with others.
I do not try to record what I think other people will think is beautiful. My photos are for me and for me to share.
I work hard to find the beauty in the places I visit. I work hard to perfect how my photos record what I see. Much of this is subjective.
This is a continual process to better my seeing and my photography.
I have been a photographer all my life. I have come to see things as my camera and my photographic skills let me.
I can record more of a scene than a single picture allows, blur motion or remove color. I can select what is in focus and what is not.
I do these things to bring out or emphasis the beauty of what I see rather than to try and make something more beautiful than it is.
I think both the Earth and photography are wonderful. I have enjoyed both all my life and intend to continue to do so.