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Bio
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The
Photo
Experience
About the Photographer
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I originally became
interested in photography in the late 60's and actually did a limited
amount of part time professional photography at that time. However, as a
20 or 30 something amateur, photography becomes secondary relative to
getting an education, pursuing a career, and raising a family. In
short, the mini cam and point and shoot replaced the SLR.
Fortunately, in the late 90's, I was working on some relatively large
petroleum logistics projects, decided to drag out my old photography
equipment and, captured on film some really unique and obscure engineering
feats. Expanding the scope of photography beyond petroleum logistics
and the development of this site followed.
Photography is a good excuse
to get out and explore life whether it be traveling, watching wildlife,
attending auto races, surfing contests, or anything else that comes along.
I'm kind of ADD so my photographic interests are somewhat eclectic.
As I have added thousands of images since 1999, I have divided the main we
site into separate with their own domain names as represented below.
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NaturePhotoBank.com
I
generally participate in a couple of photo trips each year, generally
to areas located on the West Coast of the US such as Yosemite, the
Eastern Sierra, and miscellaneous coastal locations. These groups are
comprised of from between 10 to 15 photographers, from experienced to
novice, lead by someone I hope knows where to take us at the right
time. Some of the great photographers concentrate on specific
types of photography in specific locations. I don't have that
luxury and depend on someone more knowledgeable to maximize
photographic opportunities in only a limited amount of time.
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WildlifePhotoBank.com
Back in the
late 90's I was walking around Wild Animal Park, just north of San Diego,
and couldn't avoid noticing these quite large white birds flying around the
ponds. The above image is the first image I captured of a bird. You could not only see their feathers capture the wind but you
could hear it. I don't remember seeing these birds in the 60's and
70's. I have now learned that the Common Egret
was nearly driven to extinction in the late 1800's by the
plume trade, particularly in Florida. They have made a great comeback,
especially in Southern California.
What do these birds have to do
with photography? My guess is that these birds helped kick start an
interest in bird photography by a lot of amateur photographers including
myself. Of course, once you've photographed egrets, you will add
pelicans, ducks, eagles, and so forth. Being able to capture the
dynamic motion of a bird in flight is exhilarating, especially with the new
capabilities of the digital SLRs and advancement in telephoto lens
technology.
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FloraPhotoBank.com
There's no
better compliment than when someone tells you that your images look like a
painting (and the image they are looking at hasn't been post processed to
look like a painting). Over the years, I've even had internet
based water painting clubs ask permission if they could have their members
paint some of my images. Of course I agreed without hesitation.
While flowers may seem like an
easy target due to their natural beauty, capturing that beauty and
recreating it on paper can be a little more difficult. Some
photographers have really unique and stunning styles while I prefer to stick
with the painting-like style.
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SoCalPhotoBank.com
Southern California is
rich with some of the most beautiful and differentiated parks in the
world. It's very sad that foreign visitors travel thousands of
miles to visit the Huntington Library in San Marino but most locals
don't even know it exists. Less extravagant but equally as
beautiful gardens include Descanso, the Arcadia Arboretum, and the
Living Desert in Palm Springs. These gardens provide ample
opportunity to photograph a variety of subjects throughout the year.
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SurfRef.com
Back
in 1968, my dad gave me his old Contax IIIA with 135 mm F4 lens.
I was living in the southern part of the San Francisco Peninsula and
surfing in Santa Cruz every weekend. I remember using the
camera for the first time at Steamers Lane. I thought this was
the perfect surf photo setup. With great anticipation I had
the first roll of film processed but it looked like I would need a
lot more than a 135mm lens to take surf shots. Oh well, back
to surfing in the cold waters and photographing sunsets on the San
Francisco Peninsula.
In
the late 90's I decided trying to shoot surf images again.
Since I had owned a few Nikon cameras, I decided to stay with Nikon
telephotos. Big mistake. I did rent Nikon 500 and 600mm
manual focus lenses but these were antiquated compared to the auto
focus lenses Canon was producing. I did purchase a Nikon
manual focus 1,200mm F11 lens manufactured in 1984 for the LA
Olympics. This is a great collectors item since only a
few hundred were ever manufactured. It's quite humiliating
being surrounded by Canon cameras on the beach all whizzing away
while my Nikons were going clunk, clunk, clunk.
I
was able to get serious about shooting surfers at ASP contests with
the purchase of a Sigma 300-800mm F5.6 Sigmonster in 2004. Since its
purchase I have used a number of bodies on the lens and am currently
using the Nikon D300 and power base. With such a perfect lens,
I can only blame myself if I miss a shot. Post processing is
becoming a much more important part of the process. In fact,
most of the improvement in the appearance on my surf images is due
to improvements in my post processing technique.
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Favorite Quotes
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F8 and be there.
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Prepare to be lucky.
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Beautiful is not always
photogenic.
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Always take an insurance
shot.
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After shooting a
subject, shoot it again
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