The Photographer

Ok, now that I've explained where the name came from, some background on my photography. The above image was taken at a Trans-Am race in 1970, just over a year after I bought my first camera and lenses. I started with a Minolta SRT-101 and 58mm f1.2 lens which I keep in working order and use occasionally. This was after the race when the track was opened and everyone in those days could walk around anywhere as the teams packed up and left.

For the most part, through my time in the Air Force (1969-73), undergraduate and graduate days, and the USGS, my equipment was Minolta's manual focus camera system, adding new bodies, lenses, flashes, macro and bellows equipment as my interests developed and finances afforded it. Because of work and life I took hiatuses from time to time so the body of work is in bunches. About 12 years ago I had a local professional review a sample set of slides and while being critical, he was positive to keep going and get serious.

After that I started the adventure I'm on now. About 7 years ago while hiking Mt. Rainier I came upon a scene I knew no 35mm camera, film or digital, could not do it justice, and I began to look at large format (4x5) photography. If you don't understand 4x5 photography, where the film is in sheets 4"x5", it's a whole different world that dates to the orign of photography and has continued with a lot of new equipment, techniques, technology, and so on, including complete digital cameras and lenses.

Anyway, after a few years of reading and research I put my money down on a camera and waited. And waited. And after finding it won't be produced for awhile yet (a small company), I bought a Horseman 45HD, seen here. It's worth the time and learning, and when I get the other camera, scheduled for later this spring-summer, it will get better. I hope to have scanned images on-line later this spring.

Add to that I finally bought a digital camera, a Canon 5D with a few lenses to replicate the most used lenses I still use with film. It's also a blast to use and learn. It's like taking a whole big box of all sorts of rolls of film around in one camera. It's funny this one camera costs more than all my 14 Minolta cameras. Bob Dylan knew the future in change.

So, what does it all mean? Well, I use a mix of 35mm film and digital, and it's likely you might be able to guess and maybe not. It really doesn't matter, it's the image that matters. And 4x5 photography is a whole different world, something that ties you to history as the thought process hasn't changed in one hundred plus years of photography. It's in the eye and mind of the photographer, and their skill, knowledge, experience and talent.

So, what type of photographer am I? Plain and simple, I'm an ordinary photographer, I like taking pictures of the world I see, what I call walking around photography (or street/people photography to some). I love hiking and photographing Mt. Rainier National Park. And I occasionally do some studio work in my home. Nothing fancy or fine art, but images to make people smile, think, and see small things in life. I love capturing what I see and presenting that as I saw it, it's my philosophy on photography.

And I've long believed "scenes of the ordinary" are the images that survive time. They're not always brillant works, fine art, magnificant scenes, but simply scenes of ordinary life, the people, places and events going on around us. To that end I simply walk and photograph, and I hope to add more galleries to the Website and Photo.net Website.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the images. You're welcome to comment or send e-mail.