About My Photography

I am primarily an ambient-light photographer with a strong interest in time intervals, geometric compositions, deep color and abstract or painterly lines.

Film Background

Until 2009, I used a Canon A2 SLR and shot film, specifically Fuji Velvia 50 reversal (slide) film.

“I like to capture a still scene over time. The Impressionists, who embraced photography with great gusto because it caught such a discrete and quick snippet of reality, would hate my approach, which, instead of looking for a quick dash of something, aims to stretch out the experience of a place. I like the combative tugs of unique moment versus constancy. Much of the time I’m looking to simplify, abstract-ify, chucking as much stuff as possible from the frame until I’m left with something vaguely Rothko. Things glow when they’re slow. I love the spread and blur of light.”
From Film; Manifesto, June, 2008

Fuji Velvia film captures the deep colors of landscapes very well, and is especially known for its blues and greens, as this photograph of a field in South Dakota exemplifies.

I enjoyed creating abstract compositions using Fuji Velvia, which imparts a soft glow to certain types of light, such as this irrigation canal in deep twilight in the Catlow Valley of far Southeastern Oregon.

Read my film “manifesto” of June, 2008

Digital Switch

The major things that were keeping me back from switching from film to digital—dynamic range, a full-frame sensor, for example—were ultimately resolved to my satisfaction about a year ago, and the Canon 5D Mark II was the first advanced consumer camera to the bill for me. I have owned once since January, 2009.

A digital landscape photo evocative of my “Velvia” style, hand-composed from two shots at different exposures (a la pseudo-HDR)

The transition to digital has not been without challenges. But at this point I’ve found the challenges not to represent limitations (as in, the equipment simply cannot perform that way) but my own ignorance (as in, I don’t know what post-processing steps to take to get the blue channel to get that whacked-out awesome Velvia saturation). And it’s getting better as I learn.

Using digital opens up several new avenues of exploration, such as astrophotography, which would be unfeasible with my chosen film stock

I’m still pursuing my style that contains trademarks: twilight images, long exposures, vivid saturation, formal or geometric lines. That doesn’t have to change. What I do hope is that the newer world of digital gives me a chance to explore styles I couldn’t in my old, film world.

I find that with digital I am able to explore new ideas more quickly.

Gear

I am a gear minimalist. My dream setup would be my body and something like a 20-60mm f/1.8 lens, which doesn’t exist (or would cost as much as a condo if it did). As it is, I usually travel around with either just my 17-40mm or I throw in my 50mm—a lens I acquired recently and adore.

What I use:

• Canon 5D Mark II 35mm DSLR
• Canon 17-40mm f/4
• Canon 50mm f/1.4 (The “nifty fifty”)
• Canon 100-300mm f/4.5 (I’ve had this lens since the 90s and I almost never use it)
• Bogen Manfrotto tripod
• Panasonic/Leica Lumix LX2 (compact/point and shoot)

I don’t own a flash. Well, I do, but it doesn’t work with my camera.

The 50mm f/1.4, my first personal lens purchase in ten years, is a wonder! It gives me fantastic control over depth of field and is so fast I can practically hand-hold shots in pitch dark.