Photographer. Will travel.
Hello, welcome to my illustrated ramble through life with a camera as my third eye. Seems like I always had a camera from age 12 onward. The earliest images on this site are the black & white Japanese shots taken in 1970 employing Ansel Adam’s zone system. I have sometimes relied on photography—weddings, running a commercial darkroom, selling prints, and commercial assignments—for an income along side a professional life that took me to many interesting places around the world. But, I have always carried a camera and came to understand that the inner push/drive to find something of interest actually helped me to discover more about where I happened to be at that moment.
For a number of years I simply shot what I liked. Today I have the luxury of reflecting back on what actually motivated me to attempt capturing a particular visual impression as a permanent artifact. Being entirely self-taught I have refined my approach/work/mind’s eye to the point of acknowledging four reflective guidelines:
1. Strive for as much clarity as possible to encourage access into an image. This was my prime takeaway from applying Adam’s zone system for many years.
2. If you like the subject, shoot it. A scene needs to appeal to your gut. You can figure out exactly why you shot it later.
3. Capture ambiguity in your image requiring a second and third look. Combining this rule with the first requiring sharpness and clarity for me is the excitement I feel that satisfies the second rule.
4. Shoot and re-shoot what you know. I travel a lot and shoot one-time opportunities, but I find knowing your subject, the landscape, and potential light conditions results in consistent improvement and variety with a given subject. Fortunately, I live in central Vermont surrounded by lakes, streams meadows, villages, and landscapes. I follow a number of routes based on weather conditions.
I consider myself to be basically a street shooter. I plan ahead for location and then walk about looking for subject matter. In cities I seldom use a tripod, but always carry one when traveling and shooting landscapes.
I am happy to accommodate any interest you may have in using my images. Contact me via email.