Photography is an amazing and unique medium. The way the camera sees is very different than the human eye. The camera views the world objectively, while we see the people, places, and things around us with a subjective slant. Our human brains also correct for distortion in certain scenes, but the lens usually does not. Because of these fundamental differences, it takes skill, patience, and practice to achieve your "vision" as a photographer.
While the technical aspects of photography are very important, the imagination of the photographer is equally valid. My goal is to have a vision before I pick up the camera, and then to use all my skills as a photographer and all my imagination to create that vision. Of course that doesn't mean accidents don't happen. Sometimes they're happy ones, and sometimes all you come away with is experience.
My love of photography comes from my family. My father started as a boy shooting B & W film with a Perfex camera in the thirties and forties, and developed it himself until the advent of color film. He also left a legacy for my family on slides and 16mm home movies. He was continually intrigued by new technology, and if he were alive today, I'm sure he would be immersed in the world of digital photography.
My maternal grandfather also shared the passion. He used primarily slide film in the fifties and sixties, capturing family, friends, and some beautiful scenery around his home and in Canada.
While I never traveled the traditional darkroom route, I did begin in the 1980s with a basic camera--the Pentax K 1000. Armed with a manual, instinct, and enthusiasm, I began photographing any subject that caught my eye. Thousands of prints and slides later, I retired the Pentax in favor of a Fuji Finepix S7000 in 2004. In 2006, I upgraded to the Fuji S9000. While I loved the Fujis, I guess I'm a Pentaxian at heart, and I purchased a Pentax K20D in 2008. That has become my primary camera.
I enjoy doing macro work--particularly flowers--as well as creating still lifes. I also love capturing the beautiful landscapes my home here in Pennsylvania supplies.
Working with images through photography naturally led me into design. I began doing graphic design work for Wordsworth Communications, in 2008.
About Wynken, Blynken, and Nod (the subject of many of the photographs on this site.) It is a large bronze statue that sits in the middle of the "Green" located in downtown Wellsboro. This statue was given to the town in the 1930s by Fred Bailey, a former local resident, in honor of his wife, Elisabeth, and was inspired by Eugene Field's poem, "Wynken, Blynken, and Nod."
As you look over my site, I hope you enjoy my "visions."