Light, shape, shadows and patterns.  Those are the words which describe my photography.

 

When I was 15 years old I found a box of old photo developing equipment hidden in our garage. This was the start of my lifelong passion for photography. I began by reading every book in the local (Huntsville, Alabama) library about how to develop B&W film, how cameras and film work, and the work of the great masters of photography. I built my first photographic enlarger out of an old bellows camera, plywood, a light bulb mounted in a coffee can and quite of bit of aluminum foil.  And it worked!  Then working with an old Brownie camera (and variety of other old, and used cameras) and my homemade enlarger, I learned how to take photos at the most basic level.

​

I was a school photographer then went on to studio photography, graphic arts and industrial photography, then more technical aerial and photogrammetric mapping work.  For various reasons, my day to day career took a different path, but my passion for creating images remained.

 

When digital cameras finally attained a quality approaching that of film, and image processing software replaced the darkroom, a whole new world opened.  It was like discovering that old box of photo developing equipment all over again!  I jumped in with both feet and began actively taking pictures again.

 

From early 1969 to the present, I have been influenced by the masters of photography - Edward Steichen, Edward Westin, Edward Curtis, Imogen Cunningham and Ansel Adams.  Their use of light, shadow, shape and composition, as well as their attention to technical expertise, is still as applicable today.

 

I hope my love for nature is evident my photography.  Travel provides me with ample subject matter and I am always looking for light, shape, shadows and patterns.