Artist’s Statement

A strong interest in photography and a deep love for nature have been a central focus of my personal life for over thirty years. While raising a family and working, my personal time was filled with photography trips and dreams of making photography a profession. Dreams seldom come true without action.

After over twenty-five years as a serious amateur photographer I resigned my day job to devote my full attention to a career in photography. I have studied the art of nature photography with world-renowned nature photographers including Galen Rowell, Dave Middleton, George Wuerthner, Will Clay, and Stan Osolinski. I studied view camera techniques with nationally known commercial photographer Jim Hansen. I studied darkroom art with Bruce Barnbaum, a student of Ansel Adams. I graduated from Rocky Mountain School of Photography in 1998.

I photograph in wild and scenic locations throughout the country but the focus of my work is in the Appalachian Mountains and all of the Carolinas. The beautiful areas of the Pisgah Mountains, the Smokys, and the Blue Ridge Parkway provide endless opportunities for creative nature photography. I strive to capture special moments in nature rather than popular places. With patience and close observation it is possible to photograph nature when she provides unique combinations of light and weather that transform ordinary scenes into works of art.

Equipment & Technique:

Almost all of my current body of images have been recorded on Fuji Velvia film using traditional film cameras. I use Nikon 35mm, Mamiya 645, Toyo 4X5, and a Horseman 6X12 roll film back for my 4X5 camera to create high quality panoramic images.

Like many photographers, I am in a transition period between film and digital. Most of the images that I market commercially have been scanned using high resolution drum scanning technology. This facilitates a move from the traditional wet darkroom to the digital darkroom. It also provides some of the benefits of technology while preserving a high level of quality in my final prints.

I have no immediate plans to move from film to digital in my nature photography. My intended use for nature images includes marketing a line of Fine Art Nature Images targeted for commercial placement. These images are printed in sizes ranging from 16” X 24” up to 36” X 108”. Larger format films provide a much higher quality final print at these sizes than digital capture.

I have moved to 100% digital for people photography and all other types of photography that I am involved in. I work with two digital SLR’s that use all of my Nikon lenses and other accessories and one compact digital camera.

There are three accessories that I use on a regular basis and I believe that using these accessories will improve any photographer’s success regardless of their skill or experience level.

Tripod: A high quality tripod is a must for nature photography. I believe that a quality tripod is second only to top quality glass in a photographer’s list of required equipment. 99% of all of the images that I market have been created using a tripod. My primary tripod is a Gitzo 320 with a Manfrotte 3047 pan tilt head.

Polarizing Filter: The three types of filters that I use are circular polarizing, warming, and split neutral density. Over 50% of my images have been created using a polarizer and less than 5% have been created using a warming or a neutral density filter.

The polarizing filter removes glare and reflected light. This allows the natural color and detail within a scene to be recorded. A good polarizer should not create any type of unnatural color shift in your image.

A high quality multi-coated polarizer is a good investment. There are several good brands but my favorite is B+W. The glass is excellent and the mount is very heavy and rigid. Light weight mounts can flex and sometimes get stuck on your lens. In rapidly changing light, a stuck filter can be a huge problem that can cost you seconds or minutes and result in a missed opportunity for a great image.

Split Neutral Density:

Regardless of the type of film that you use, it is very limited in its ability to record detail over a range of light intensities. Most film can hold shadow and highlight detail over a range of 3 to 4 stops. This is an adequate range for most scenes.

Film’s ability to record detail becomes inadequate when you encounter high contrast light. The most common time when this situation occurs is at sunrise and sunset when there is far more light in the sky than there is on the landscape. This is the perfect time to use a graduated split neutral density filter. This filter allows you to reduce the light intensity in the sky with the goal of bringing the total range of light in the scene within the film’s ability to capture detail in both highlight and shadow.
There are several high quality filters on the market. I use a Tiffen X-Long glass filter. The filter mounts in a Cokin P filter mount and the extra length allows for a wider range of adjustment, especially with larger diameter lenses. I use ND .6 and ND .9 soft transition filters.