The Photographer 

     Photographers often have an interesting journey to the camera.  I suppose I am really no different.  I didn't start out thinking I would be a photographer.  I started out studying fine art at several art schools and then traveling across the nation with a duffle bag and a French easel trying my hand as a painter.  I guess as I look back now, it was a short lived period in comparison to the years of working of my photography.  

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     It was a fateful moment when I was out west, Scottsdale AZ, when I decided to apply for an Artist Grant.  To do so back then one needed to send in slides of their work.  I had no idea how to shoot artwork, the lens or the film or lighting that would be best to accomplish this.  I didn't even know, I didn't know.  I bought a cheap 35mm SLR kit with who knows what lens.  I shot my work and sent in my slides.  While I never received a grant, what did result is I started carrying that camera everywhere.  I thought I would use my photos as inspiration and references for my paintings.  As time went on the photos became more important than the paintings to me.  This was the shift.  Suddenly I wanted to know why my images weren't at the level of what I would see in magazines?  Why my black and whites came out so dull?  

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     This led me back to school upon moving back to Ohio.  Digital was just emerging as an option at that time, film was still considered superior.  Some still make that argument.  I believe both forms offer something to the photographer.   I mainly studied film with a touch of early digital and photoshop schooling.  Like a sponge I absorbed every class offered and to this day read and study as many books as I can on the subject.  I spent a short period after my studies working freelance for a local studio, shooting youth sporting teams, and have dabbled in portrait and wedding photography as well.   I found my passion to be creating images that would be best suited for a wall or publication.  I have pursued this ever since, honing my craft over the years.  It has been in the recent that I have moved from my own shadows in to the light, a more public position, with teaching classes and giving presentations on photography.  This site is part of that same momentum.  I have had several pieces featured last year and I am working to get published in 2024.  Photography to me is an art medium that reflects the personal expression of the photographer all the while leading the viewer to draw and feel their own personal conclusions on what it is they are viewing.  Thank you so much for visiting my site.